Always
by LitaFanForLife
Summary: L.A. was in flames, and HE was there, but that was only the beginning. And so the story of Buffy and Angel starts up again. Obstacles, death, war, and tragedy are all around, but somehow, in the middle of it all, the impossible happens.
1. Chapter 1

ooooooooooooooooooooooo Here's my new story. Review and enjoy :)

"_I love you."_

"_No you don't. But thanks for saying it."_

Buffy woke with a start.

She hadn't been sleeping well for awhile now. She kept having dreams about Angel and Spike. Correction, she kept having dreams about Angel, and kept having that one recurring dream about Spike, the replaying of events of the last time she saw him, back in Sunnydale.

It had been over a year since the event, and Buffy still hadn't seen either man. Spike had died in the Sunnydale Apocalypse, only to be brought back to life in L.A.

She hadn't seen Spike, but Andrew had spilled the beans about his still being alive. That brought a smile to Buffy's face. It was good to hear that he was still alive, but as bad as it sounded, she didn't really want to see him.

If she came across him again, she would be happy to see him, and be proud at the sacrifice he made in the Apocalypse, and appreciate the man he had become, but that would be it. The part of her life with him in it on a regular basis was over.

She was in a bad place when she got with Spike. Overall, her time with him wasn't something to be proud of. It was bad. It was physical, and that was it, at first. It was only sex, it was a way to make her feel _something, anything, _after being pulled out of heaven and back to the hell that was her normal life on earth. She used him and he used her. She never loved him even though she knew that he loved her in his own twisted way.

She could never love him, not the way he was. What she was doing wasn't right, even if it was the only thing she could do that made her feel.

She had broken things off with him, and Spike couldn't handle that. She remembered the day when he tried to rape her in her bathroom. She could never forget that day, and it had become so clear then, even though she knew it before, that she could never love him.

When Spike had returned to Sunnydale with his soul, things had started to change a bit. She saw what he had done. He went out and fought for a soul, for her. Forgiveness had come, and a new relationship had formed, but never the same relationship they had had before. She would never let him touch her like she once had, not ever again, because too many bad things had happened between them, and because she was pulling herself out of the darkness. She was slowly becoming Buffy again.

This new relationship was built on trust and respect, and Spike really truly did love her this time around. This time she actually had real feelings for him also, she was grateful for how he was there for her and for all of his support. She grew to love him, not like you love your soul mate or lover, but as a friend, as someone special... She remembered her last words to him, she couldn't forget them as they kept repeating in her dreams.

"_I love you."_

"_No you don't. But thanks for saying it."_

She had said them for comfort, and because a part of her meant it, just not the way he wanted her to love him. And he knew it.

"I hope you're well, Spike," she said to herself, getting up.

She stretched her arms over her head in front of the mirror and smiled. She could actually relax today. No training the new Slayers, she was free to do whatever she wanted. And today, right now, what she wanted was just to take a walk. It was beautiful outside and she wanted some fresh air. She threw on a pair of track pants and a sweater, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed out the door.

Rome was great, she loved it here. The people were cool and the place was beautiful. She had found this sort of hidden walking path a couple months ago, and always took a stroll down it. It was peaceful because so little people knew about it. It was perfect for walking and thinking, plus it led to this big old tree that had a single swing hanging from it.

She would walk and then just sit on the swing, sometimes for hours at a time. It was so peaceful. She walked down her path and inevitably came to her swing, which she sat on with a childlike joy and excitement. This was _her place._

She kicked her feet under her, to give herself more height on the swing. Here she was care-free, even if only for awhile. Here, she just was _her._

She swung herself back and forth for a good twenty minutes just enjoying the nothingness, the content, the quiet. Eventually, she brought herself back to reality, and got off of her secret swing. She picked up her bottle and found the walking path again, continuing on her way.

"Why can't I go one night without dreaming about them?" she thought to herself.

Every night for a long time now, she dreamt of Angel and Spike. It was always the same one of Spike, and she kind of thought she knew why she kept dreaming that one. She thought it was her conscious reminding her of a dark time, something she could and would not ever go back to. She also thought that it was her conscious' way of making her feel bad over the whole Spike situation, a way to bring up that bit of guilt she still had.

Buffy stopped in her tracks for a minute and thought.

"Spike is my past. I didn't always treat him well, but he wasn't always great to me either... I have some guilt left about letting him die there in the fire, but I never made him do it, it was his choice. He wanted to be a hero, and I gave him that chance... I'm sorry I didn't love you. I'm sorry that I said I did. I was trying to be kind," she said, now indirectly talking to Spike himself. "I didn't love you, but I cared, and you did at least know that much. You need to stop making me feel guilty. I need you to leave me alone now, please. We're done. You were important to me, we were important to each other, but that time is over. I need you to go away now, I want my dreams back... Goodbye."

Buffy took a deep breath and kept walking. Saying that had actually felt really good. She never really admitted her feelings of guilt before, but she felt good about it. Maybe that's what she needed to do, admit the guilt. Maybe the dreams would go away.

Angel, on the other hand, dreaming of him was natural. She had been dreaming about that guy since she was sixteen, even after he left, she still dreamt of him. She dreamt of him when she was with Riley and she dreamt of him when she was with Spike. She couldn't get rid of him, even if she tried, and she didn't want to, she never had.

He had screwed her up big time, she couldn't love men properly, and it was his fault. He made her love him so much, she didn't even know how to explain it. He had this part of her that absolutely no other guy could touch, no matter how hard they tried, and God, how they tried. And she tried too, she tried hard to be with others, to move on from Angel. It never really worked, because she still thought about her and Angel, even when she was with someone else.

She hadn't been with him in years, but he still was still _with her_ wherever she was. She still loved him like she had all those years ago... It was so hard to send him away the year before when he came to Sunnydale, offering to help her in the Apocalypse, and basically telling her that he wanted her back again, but she had made a decision earlier that day. If she survived the Sunnydale Apocalypse, she would be taking some Buffy time. No guys at all. It was time to figure out who she was, she needed to be guy free, well romantically guy free.

And that meant Angel too. Part of her was ecstatic that Angel had finally dropped his whole idea of leaving her for her own good, and the other part stood fast. If he still wanted her, Angel would wait for her, until she was ready, if she ever would be ready.

Buffy had come to the conclusion awhile back that it probably would never work out between her and another man anyway, not with Angel always with her the way he was. In the end, she could only see herself with him, or not with any guy at all.

Angel or no one. That didn't mean she would be with Angel though, as much as she still wanted that. She needed the time that she was taking. She was figuring out her life, what she wanted. She was spending time with her sister, Giles, and her friends, and she was doing well. She was becoming a full person, discovering all of herself, learning all she could learn. She was on a good road, a road that she thought would lead her back to Angel in the end, but right now, as much as she loved him, it was about her.

She couldn't be with Angel right now, maybe soon, but not yet. That didn't mean part of her didn't crave him. She thought about him a lot. She missed him. Her many different dreams about him and her, of the times they had shared, helped to satisfy some of that craving.

Buffy was surprised to find herself back at the beginning of the path, she laughed a little bit, and walked back to the house.

Dawn was awake when Buffy got in.

"You were up early," Dawn said, yawning.

"Went out for a walk," Buffy answered, closing the door behind her.

"Here," Dawn said, passing Buffy a plate with some waffles.

"You made me breakfast," Buffy said, happily.

"Yeah," Dawn laughed. "Someone's in a good mood this morning. What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just feeling good," Buffy answered.

"Okay," Dawn said, not bothering to push any further. "Now eat."

"Yes ma'am" Buffy laughed.

It was good to see Buffy like this; it had been a good year so far. Dawn was just happy to see her sister with peace in her life.

"You two are crazy, did you know that?" Willow asked, coming out of her room, yawning a big yawn.

"Why are you awake?" she asked, tiredly.

"Buffy took a walk and I made breakfast. Yummy, see?" Dawn said, passing Willow a plate of waffles too.

Willow's eyes opened up a bit more. "Well I guess I can wake up for some of Dawnie's waffles," Willow said, with a smile.

"Waffles, did I hear you say Waffles, Dawnie?" Xander called out from his room.

"Yeah, hurry up. Come get some before we eat them all," Dawn said.

Xander came out of his room, rubbing his eyes.

"Hello ladies," he greeted.

The girls waved as they stuffed their faces.

"Save some for Giles," Dawn said, taking half of what was on Xander's plate away from him.

"I told him I'd bring him some over to the Fortress. I feel bad, he was working all night."

"Fine, I guess I can save some," Xander said, feigning hurt.

Buffy just laughed. Life was good right now. And she was happy.


	2. Chapter 2

(Just in case anyone is wondering, the italicized writing means someone is either thinking or dreaming.

oooooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy.

3 months later...

"_I heard a rumour there was one less vampire walking around making a nuisance of himself."_

"_There is. Guess I have you to thank for the tip."_

"_Pleasure's mine."_

"_Course, it would make things easier if I knew how to get in touch with you."_

"_I'll be around."_

"_Or who you were?...Well anyway, you can have your jacket back."_

"_It looks better on you."_

_Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo_

"_I wish we could be regular kids."_

"_Yeah. I'll never be a kid."_

"_Okay, then a regular kid and her cradle-robbing, creature of the night, boyfriend."_

_Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooo_

_Los Angeles was in flames. There was no water to put it out. So many were dead on the ground._ _Only a few people remained standing and fighting. They were fighting against so many. It_ _looked like a hopeless fight for the few brave individuals. Evil creatures surrounded them,_ _laughing._

"_You think you can beat us, you pathetic beings?" one of the big monsters taunted. "Just give up_ _now, and I might let you live for a few more days."_

_One of the men turned around, to face the monster. "If we give up now, we're even more_ _pathetic than you, that, and I wouldn't be able to do this," the man said, swinging a sword at_ _the creature, chopping off its head._

_The man turned back around with a triumphant smile. "Bring it on," he said, as a massive group_ _of evil beings swarmed him and the other remaining people._

_The man's face became clear just seconds before he was swarmed._ _It was Angel._

Buffy woke up screaming.

Willow, Dawn and Xander came rushing into Buffy's room, not bothering to knock.

"What's wrong?" they all asked.

Buffy didn't answer them. She grabbed frantically for her phone and began dialling a phone number with trembling fingers.

"Pick up. Pick up," she muttered.

She closed her eyes with worry. She let the phone ring for a good minute. After that time had passed, she gave up and hung up.

"I need to get to L.A. now," Buffy said.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Angel is in big trouble. L.A's practically gone, burned to the ground. There are so many dead people there. I need to get there now. And I need whatever help I can get. One of you, please, go to the Slayers, and ask if any of them are willing to come with me and fight. Hurry," Buffy said, as she poured as many weapons as she possibly could into a bag.

"Buffy, just because you had a dream, doesn't mean-"

"Xander, I know you're not Angel's biggest fan, but _please_. Trust me on this one," Buffy begged.

"Okay. I'll see who I can round up," he said, quickly leaving.

"I'm coming with you," Dawn said to her sister.

"No way in hell are you coming with me. Pretty much all I saw was death over there, Dawnie.

It's too dangerous for you. I know you're tough, but that stuff is not for you. Do _not _ argue with me," Buffy said breathing heavily. "You stay here with Giles, and you help him keep everything under control."

"I'm coming with you," Willow told Buffy. "If it's really as bad as you say you saw it was, I can probably help out a bit."

"Okay, Willow, you're with me. Dawn you go tell Giles what's going on, and you stick with him. Got it?" Buffy said, trying to stay calm.

"Yeah, yeah," Dawn mumbled.

"Good," Buffy said, kissing Dawn's forehead. "Now, go."

Dawn lef,t and Buffy and Willow quickly followed.

Buffy's cell phone rang.

"Who's coming?" was how Buffy answered the phone.

"They're not," Xander said uneasily.

"None of them?" Buffy said, astonished.

"They don't want to leave just because you had a dream," Xander tried to explain.

"Whatever, bye Xander. Keep an eye on Dawn for me," Buffy said, hanging up the phone.

"It's just you and me, Will," Buffy said, pissed off.

"Well, we don't need a plane then. This will be faster anyway," Willow said, wrapping her arms around Buffy.

"We're going to L.A."

With that, the two women took off into the air.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo Oo

Buffy felt sick when they finally landed on solid ground, but brushed that feeling aside quickly.

"They were in a big alleyway or something," Buffy said nervously, looking at the destruction all around her. There was fire almost everywhere.

"We're gonna need a little more than an alleyway, Buffy," Willow said.

"From where they were, I could see a big Wolfram and Hart sign, it was almost above them," Buffy said.

"Okay, that I can work with," Willow said, grabbing Buffy again, heading back into the air.

It didn't take long to find the alleyway, they didn't even look for the Wolfram and Hart sign. They saw a huge fight going on and they knew that's where they needed to be.

"Holy crap," Buffy said. "Okay, here's my plan. Angel and his gang are still alive down there. So we do some destruction up here," Buffy said, nodding her head in the direction of all the flying beasts, that hadn't yet spotted Buffy and Willow.

"You fly and I'll slay," Buffy said, holding onto Willow with one arm and grabbing a small sword from her bag with the other.

"Okay sounds like a plan," Willow said nervously. "Where to first?"

"That big ugly blue thing," Buffy said, sword ready in her hand.

Willow flew in that direction, and Buffy stabbed the sword into what seemed to be the neck of the flying creature. Whatever part of it she had stabbed, had done the trick. The thing evaporated into thin air.

"If I could high-five you right now, I would," Willow said, still with a note of worry in her voice.

Buffy laughed nervously. "Orange beasty thing," she directed.

Willow steered in that direction. Buffy stabbed at this thing with the sword, but wasn't really ready for what came next. This thing had a head that sprung out at Buffy, and tried to literally bite hers and Willow's head off.

"Keep flying Will," Buffy said frantically. She withdrew the sword from where she originally stabbed it, and swung it at its head with as much strength as she could muster, beheading the nasty beast.

"That was scary close," Willow said, though she was laughing now.

Buffy laughed too. It was crazy, they really shouldn't be laughing, but what else was there to do when you were this close to death, cry? There was no time to cry, only fight.

"Will, they still don't see us. If we can get rid of these last two flying pieces of crap, we can help them out down there, too."

"Then that's what we're gonna do," Willow said, going after the next creature.

This thing was enormous. "Buffy, you better get another sword," Willow warned, turning Buffy around in mid-air so that now Willow was literally holding her in a hug. This was the only way to free both of Buffy's arms so that she could fight.

Buffy grabbed another sword, and now held two, ready to plunge them into the next creature.

"I know I haven't said it a lot lately, Will, but I love you," Buffy said.

"We're not gonna die yet, Blondie," Willow said.

"I know that."

"Okay good. As long as that wasn't your goodbye to me. I love you too, Buffy."

"Now let's go slay some more demon ass," Buffy said, as the quickly approached the new monster.

This one quickly turned around and saw them coming. Wings shot out so rapidly toward Buffy and Willow that she had no time to blink.

Willow swerved, and Buffy chopped off one of its wings. It came after them again, but Buffywas ready. She plunged both of her swords into this thing's head, and it turned to dust.

Only one left to go. And it still didn't see Buffy and Willow. It was too busy watching the destruction below, waiting to be called down there.

Buffy grabbed this creature's neck and snapped it back, quickly chopping off its head.

"Okay. That's done," Willow said, practically panting. "We need to go down now. I need to see what happened. I'm bleeding, and I can't keep us up any longer."

Willow landed them on a roof, and then rolled over on her side.

"What the hell, Will?" Buffy said worriedly.

"That big one caught me with something."

There was blood all over the place. Willow was bleeding like crazy.

"No. No. No," Buffy gasped.


	3. Chapter 3

ooooooooooooooooooooo Here's the third chapter. Review and enjoy.

"Willow. Don't move," Buffy said, frantically. She ripped her jacket off and pressed it against Willow's side, which was bleeding profusely.

"That feels better," Willow said quietly.

"You're gonna be fine," Buffy said.

"Just keep pressure on the wound. If you put enough pressure and hold it there long enough, you can stop the bleeding. If you can stop the bleeding, I'll have enough energy to put a healingspell on myself."

"Okay," Buffy said, trying to smile. "I can do pressure. I'm the queen of pressure."

Willow managed a small laugh. "Then I'll be fine."

Buffy held her jacket against Willow's side for almost ten minutes, until Willow finally said, "Okay, you can let go now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Willow said. "I'll be okay. I just need to say an incantation. You need to get down there now, and help them fight. Hurry up, go."

"Okay. I'll see you soon," Buffy said, beginning to climb down the side of the building.

"I'm coming Angel," she muttered quietly.

She looked below and saw Angel, Spike, and a blue-haired woman battling about twenty monstrous-looking creatures. They were outnumbered, but they weren't doing too badly. Spike was fighting off about three creatures, and the blue-haired woman was just blowing things up left, right, and centre, reducing the number of enemies with each movement of her hand. She had some serious power.

Angel was being swarmed, just like Buffy had seen in her dream. He was being attacked from all sides. Buffy didn't bother to climb the rest of the way down the building, she grabbed her sword, and jumped down from about six storeys up.

Buffy landed on the back of one the creatures, and without any thought, plunged her sword straight down into its head. The thing disappeared instantly.

Buffy moved onto the next creature, sending the hardest kick she could manage to its midsection, and a powerful punch to its disgusting face. She sliced her sword through it, literally slicing the thing in half, but not before it managed to do a little damage of its own to her. She felt a sting in her side.

That's when she came face to face with Angel.

"Buffy," he said, shocked. "Duck!"

Something was coming at Buffy from behind. Angel threw a sword at it, landing straight in the monster's chest.

"Thanks," Buffy said, catching her breath. "Move," she yelled.

She threw her sword sideways, taking the head off of the thing that was coming at Angel. Angel looked around to make sure there was nothing left to come after them. But there was nothing left except the two creatures Illyria was throwing around, and the one Spike was handling with no problem.

"What are you-" Angel was about to ask her a question, but was stopped mid-sentence by Buffy's slap to his face.

"What the hell?" Angel said, confused, rubbing his face.

"Do you know how I woke up this morning? I woke up screaming because I saw you here. I saw you being swarmed. And I saw this place up in flames. "

"You saw this in your dream?" Angel asked, shocked.

"Dream, prophecy, I don't know what the hell you call it. All I know is that I saw you, and I to help... Why the hell did I come here because of a dream, and not because I heard about all of this from you? Do I not warrant a phone call when you've got a war to fight coming around the corner?" Buffy asked furiously.

She was worried sick before. But she knew Angel was okay now. Now she could be pissed off And she really was. She forgot about the increasing amount of pain that was building up on her side.

"I didn't want to bother you," he said, weakly.

"Bother me?" Buffy asked, shocked, losing her anger.

"You told me last year that you needed your time. You were doing your whole baking thing. I didn't want to intrude."

"You listen to me, I don't care what I told you about baking. Yeah I needed my time, but that never meant that if you were in trouble you couldn't come to me. I never meant it like that. I can't believe you thought I did," Buffy said, shocked and feeling really bad.

"No big deal," Angel said softly.

"Yes it is," she said, pulling away from him so that she could look him in the eyes. "If you ever need _anything _from me, I will come running. Do you understand? I still love you. I'm always here for you, no matter what our relationship status is," Buffy said, feeling close to tears.

The blue-haired woman, bumped into Buffy, sending her straight into Angel.

"It's good to see you," Angel finally said, pulling her into a hug.

"Good to see you too," she said, hugging him back, resting her head on his chest for a moment.

This felt really nice. It felt natural. Being there with Angel just felt right. It would be better if she didn't feel like she was going to explode. She was sure she was bleeding, but kept her mouth shut.

"Who are you?" Illyria asked Buffy, totally ruining the moment.

"I'm Buffy, and you are?"

"That's Illyria," Spike said, joining the threesome. "Hey Slayer," he grinned at Buffy.

Buffy smiled back. "Hi Spike. Looks like you were having some fun over there."

"Oh, you know me. I love a fight," Spike said.

"As do I," Illyria chimed in.

"You're amazing, by the way," Buffy said to Illyria.

"Thank you," Illyria said awkwardly. "You are quite talented also. I saw you slaying demons in

the sky before, then down here also."

Buffy smiled in response.

"Slaying demons in the sky?" Spike and Angel said at once.

"Willow flew while I slayed... Speaking of Willow, you guys have got to give me a minute," Buffy said, removing herself from the group.

She closed her eyes, and asked Willow if she was alright, telepathically. Willow responded to her. She was fine. She was coming down in a couple minutes.

"Willow flew me here. We didn't need a plane, since pretty much nobody else was willing to come here, because they didn't trust my dream... She's up on the top of that building. She got hurt when I was slaying one of those big nasties. But she's good now, thank God."

"You came here because of a dream?" Spike asked.

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "I called first but there was no answer, so I knew I needed to get here. I knew my dream was real."

"You saw the three of us in your dream?" Spike asked again.

"I saw two people and Angel," she answered, trying to hide the pain in her voice. Her side was burning like crazy. She could feel the blood now.

And without even knowing it, with that small amount of words, Buffy crushed whatever little hope Spike had that he would be with her again, breaking his heart a bit.

"Hello all," Willow said, joining the group.

Buffy looked at her friend and hugged her. "You promise you're all good now?" she asked.

"Good as new, mommy," Willow laughed, pointing upwards. She had made it rain. The fires were starting to go out. "Now look here. Isn't this a nice little reunion. Angel and Spike and Buffy," Willow said winking at Buffy.

Buffy wanted to smack her, but had absolutely no energy for it at the moment.

"I don't know you though," she said to Illyria.

"I'm Illyria," was her simple response.

"Okay then," Willow said.

"Don't I get a hug or something, Red?" Spike asked.

"I suppose," Willow teased, walking over and giving him a hug. "Don't worry Angel. I didn't forget about you, big guy," Willow said, moving onto Angel, giving him a hug too.

Angel laughed. "Hey Will."

Willow walked over to Illyira.

"I do not know you. Hugs are not necessary," Illyria said.

Willow just nodded her head, wanting to laugh.

"Now would anybody care to let us know just what the hell happened here? You nearly gave Buffy a heart attack."

"Wolfram and Hart. War waging. That pretty much sums it up," Spike said casually.

"If the fighting is over, I think I will leave. I will find another place where I can fight. I want to annihilate some more things," Illyria said calmly.

Willow and Buffy looked at her strangely.

"Okay then. Thanks for the help," Angel and Spike said awkwardly.

"I'm sure I will meet you again."

And with that, Illyria was gone.

"That was interesting," Buffy said.

"Yes yes, that was lovely," Willow said flippantly. "Where are you two gonna go now?" she asked Angel and Spike. "There's practically nothing left here, except that stupid Wolfram and Hart building, and that little hotel."

"I decided that if we didn't end up dead I was gonna go back to England for a bit. See the old home and all that," Spike said. "Now I'm not so sure how the hell I'm supposed to get there."

"Air Willow at your service," Willow said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Seriously? You can't fly me to England?" Spike asked.

"Yes I can. I flew me and Buffy here from Rome," Willow laughed. "Let's go. I'll take you right now."

"Okay," Spike said awkwardly. "Bye guys, I guess," he said to Angel and Buffy.

"I'll be back within the hour," Willow told Buffy. "You guys should probably hang out at the hotel for awhile. I don't think you wanna stay out here too long," Willow said, sadly referring to all the dead people around.

And within the blink or two of an eye, Buffy was left alone with Angel in the rain.

"Hotel sounds like a good idea," Buffy said. "Let's get out of here." She started to walk ahead quickly. She needed to go somewhere so she could see how bad the damage was. See if she could fix it up herself.

"No objections here," Angel answered, following behind her.

Buffy was starting to feel really dizzy. She held onto the wall for support when they finally got into the hotel, which seemed to be absolutely empty.

Buffy opened the door to one of the rooms, and immediately ran for the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and grabbed a towel. She took off her shirt and looked down at all the blood. Her stomach was soaked with blood. The gash was huge.

"That's bad," she said, getting really scared now, putting the towel against her side.

The blood soaked through the towel. She needed something else to stop the bleeding. She took her jeans off and put them against the huge gash.

Those worked a bit bitter. The blood didn't soak through as fast, but it still was soaking through.

"Angel," she called out, with little energy.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I need your shirt and your jacket please. Just slide them under the door."

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked her.

Buffy couldn't hold off anymore. Her energy was gone. She fell to the floor with a loud thump.

"Buffy?" Angel yelled.

No answer.

"Buffy?" he said again, sounding scared this time.

Still no answer.

Angel didn't ask again. He kicked the door down, and found Buffy half-naked in a pool of her own blood.

"No!" he screamed. "NO!"


	4. Chapter 4

ooooooooooooooooooooo Here's another chapter. Review and enjoy.

"Buffy!" he screamed.

There was blood all over. How the hell didn't he notice it before?

He took off his shirt, and tried to wipe the blood away. He needed to see what the wound looked like, needed to see what had done all this damage to Buffy. The blood just kept coming, but Angel managed to get a look at the gash. He knew what had caused all this bleeding.

He bundled up his jacket and held it against her side. He picked her up, and brought her over to the couch. Angel went back into the bathroom and ripped down part of the shower curtain, and then found a blanket.

He used the shower curtain to tie his jacket over her wound, to hold it in place with pressure. Angel wrapped the blanket around her tightly, trying to keep her warm.

He kissed her head quickly. "I'll be right back, I swear. I'm gonna make you better... You're gonna be fine," Angel said, as he ran out the door.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOo

_There was white light all around. Not too bright though, just right. Beautiful._

_Where was Angel?_ _Where was she, herself?_ _She wasn't at the hotel. And she wasn't bleeding._ _There was no one around._

"_I'm dead again? Come on. I'm not ready yet," Buffy said, looking around, for someone,_ _anyone._

"_He may save you yet," a voice said. "You may not die."_

"_I'm not dead yet?" Buffy asked._

"_Not yet."_

"_Where's Angel?" Buffy questioned._

"_He knows how to save you. He knows what blade tore through you. He's getting the things_ _he needs. If he goes through with saving you, he'll be risking a lot."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Your cure will very likely kill him. Not right away of course, but in a matter of weeks, he_ _will probably die."_

"_Does he know that?" Buffy asked, worriedly._

"_He does," the voice answered._

"_Then why would he bother?"_

"_Because he loves you very much," the voice answered smoothly._

"_You said it was likely to kill him, not for sure. How can I make sure he doesn't die?" Buffy_ _asked desperately. "I can't lose him. I won't lose him. We've been apart for too long. We_ _need to have our second chance."_

_The voice didn't answer this time._

"_How do I keep him from dying, dammit?" Buffy asked again, angrily._

"_Don't take it all," was all the voice said._

"_What does that mean? Don't take all of what?"_

"_That's all I can say to help you in that matter. Do not ask me about that again."_

"_Okay then. How does he know how to save me? How does he know anything about the_ _blade?" Buffy asked, desperate for any information she could get._

"_Earlier this year, a clan of demons, the same as the one who is the cause of the state you_ _are currently in, let word out in the demon world that they had put sort of a hit out on you._

_Angel found out about it, and did his research. He had heard that these creatures had_ _absolutely deadly swords, especially in the case of Slayers. Basically what their sword does_ _to you is poison your blood. It causes a lot of bleeding at first, but in the end what it does is_ _stop your blood from flowing all together, killing you... Angel found out a way to save you,_ _but never ended up needing it. For some reason the hit was called off and you were safe."_

"_But how did Angel know, they were after me?"_

"_He's been keeping tabs on you since your Graduation Day. He's always been watching out_ _for you... He's coming back now. Remember what I said. Don't take it all. Suffer for a few_ _hours... If you both make it through, you've got a wild ride ahead of you... Believe what you_ _see, even if you don't understand it. What you think is impossible, is not necessarily so."_

"_But-"_

_With that Buffy was left alone, now in nothing but darkness._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOo

Angel came rushing through the door, with a bottle of green liquid in his hands. For once he was actually happy that Wolfram and Hart hadn't burned to the ground, or else he wouldn't have been able to get the liquid.

He pulled a chair next to the couch and removed his jacket from Buffy's wound, still keeping her covered for the most part with the blanket. He poured the liquid onto his hand and then cut the palm of his hand with a nearby knife.

"You're gonna live," he said, just as he pressed his bloody hand to Buffy's bloody stomach.

As soon as he touched her skin he knew that it was working. He felt it. Her wound was absorbing his blood.

After a minute or two, Buffy's eyes shot open. She was awake again. She was going to be okay.

"Angel?" she said, sounding as if she just woke up.

"Right here," he told her, absolutely relieved that she was up.

"What are you doing? Where are my clothes?" she asked, looking down at his hand on her bare and bloody stomach.

"I'm making you better. You got rid of your clothes to try and keep your wound from getting worse, but that didn't work," Angel said, beginning to sound very tired.

Buffy began to remember now. She had been stabbed by the creature she killed.

"Are you feeling better?" Angel asked her, keeping his hand firmly against her wound, the wound that was getting less bloody by the second."

Buffy suddenly remembered what the voice had said. _'Don't take it all.'_

Angel was giving her his blood. His blood was helping hers get rid of the poison. His blood was helping her heal. The voice was telling her not to take all his blood.

"Get your hands off me, Angel," Buffy said.

"I didn't do anything," he swore.

"Not like that, Angel... Take your hand off. I know what this is gonna do to you, and I'm not gonna let you die because of me."

"How do you know?" he asked weakly.

"The voice told me. Now let go. I'm feeling better."

"It's gonna hurt like hell if I let go, Buffy. I mean you're gonna be in serious pain."

"I can feel my body healing already. If being in serious pain means that you live, then I'll take the damn pain. You're not gonna die for me. You don't get to make me better, and then not be here with me. I won't lose you. That's not fair. I want a shot at a second chance with you. Don't you want that too? I don't know what's gonna happen between you and me, but I know if you die, you and me can't ever happen... Now take your hand away, please," she said with a shaky voice.

Angel slowly moved his hand away, and Buffy screamed in agony.

Angel rushed to put his hand back, but Buffy hissed at him. "Don't you dare."

"What the hell do you want me to do, just sit and watch you suffer?" he yelled.

"Yes," she shouted. "This can't last forever. So just sit there, and be with me. It will be okay."

"Are you cold?" he asked her, not knowing what to do.

"Yes," she screamed as a whole new jolt of pain rushed through her.

This was torture. Buffy had never felt this much pain before.

"Few hours," Buffy repeated through gritted teeth.

Angel picked Buffy up. "Oh my God!" she yelled.

He tried to put her down on the bed as gently as possible, and cover her up with a warmer blanket. It didn't work so well. Buffy was tossing around wildly now.

"Please God," she screamed in horrendous pain, thrashing all over the place, throwing offthe blanket.

Angel was worried that she would throw herself off the bed at this rate.

"It feels like a bomb just went off inside of my body," Buffy said.

She was actually crying.

Angel couldn't take it. He had hardly ever seen her cry from pain. This was bad. He got into the bed with her and quickly wrapped his arms around her tightly, keeping her in one spot.

He felt her tears on his skin.

Angel couldn't watch her in agony like this. He removed one hand from around her and was about to put it back against her stomach.

"I will never forgive you if you put your hand back there," she hissed. "A few hours was what the voice said. A few hours and I'll be okay... Just hold me for now, please. It hurts a little bit less," Buffy cried.

Angel wrapped his arm back around her again, just as she started to thrash some more.

He held her even tighter.

"It'll be okay. It'll be okay," he repeated over and over.

Buffy was gripping onto Angel like her life depended on it. Her nails dug into his back, and Angel knew he was bleeding, but didn't care one bit. If that was lessening her pain, then she could do whatever she wanted.

Buffy began screaming again. Just as she did that, Willow arrived in the room. She didn't say a word but her jaw dropped, obviously getting the wrong idea.

Angel didn't say anything, he just shook his head. Willow seemed to understand, and then got a very worried look on her face.

"What happened?" she mouthed, and then pointed to her head.

Angel was confused, what did pointing at her head mean?

Telepathy.

Okay, he got it.

"_She almost died. There's nothing you can do for her. It's bad right now, but she'll be okay in a few_ _hours. She'll be fine."_

"_Promise, Angel?"_

"_She'll be fine, Willow. We've just got to get through the next three hours."_

"_I can't just watch her in pain like that," Willow thought. "I can't just do nothing."_

"_There's nothing you can do for her right now. Go back to Rome, I'm sure they're all worried_ _about you two. Tell them what's going on, and then maybe you can bring Buffy another pair_ _of clothes or something," Angel thought, trying to make Willow feel useful, as he tried not to_ _let Buffy's screams get to him even more._

Willow nodded her head and vanished just as quickly as she came.

"Angel!" Bufy yelled.

The pain was unbearable.

"I'm here," he said, holder her tighter still. "I'm here," he repeated.


	5. Chapter 5

ooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and Enjoy.

Angel knew when the three hours were up. Buffy finally loosened her grip on him, and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Sleep now. So tired," Buffy mumbled, her eyes shutting quickly.

"Okay. Rest now. Everything's okay," Angel said quietly.

Even if he wanted to, which he really didn't, he couldn't get up. Buffy was still holding onto him. She was still in his arms, and there was no way in the world he was going to move her and wake her up. Not after all the pain she had just gone through.

He closed his eyes too, just happy that Buffy was okay, that she was completely healed, that she was still alive.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo 

"_Love makes you do the wacky."_

"_What?"_

"_Crazy stuff."_

"_Oh. Crazy like a 241 year-old being jealous of a high school junior?"_

"_Are you fessing up?"_

"_I've thought about it. Maybe it bothers me a little."_

"_I don't love Xander."_

"_Yeah, but he's in your life. He gets to be there when I can't. Take your classes, eat your_ _meals, hear your jokes and complaints. He gets to see you in the sunlight."_

_0000000000000000000_

"_So, you don't think about the future?"_

"_No."_

"_Never?"_

"_No."_

"_You really don't care what happens a year from now? Five years from now?"_

"_Angel, when I look into the future, all I see is you. All I want is you."_

"_I know the feeling."_

_0000000000000000000000_

Buffy opened her eyes and smiled. No scary dreams this time. Just beautiful memories of her and Angel.

Speaking of Angel, she noticed that she was still holding onto him, and him to her, only now, she was dressed. Willow must have popped in, and cast a spell to clothe her.

"You didn't let go all night?" she whispered. "You're still my Angel, aren't you?"

Angel began to stir and opened his eyes not long after Buffy opened hers.

"Hey," Buffy smiled, letting go of him.

"Hey yourself," he smiled back.

"Thanks for last night. For everything," she told him.

"You have nothing to thank me for."

"Just say you're welcome, Angel," Buffy told him.

"You're welcome... I'm just glad you're okay."

After all that had just recently happened, Buffy had a very overwhelming urge to kiss him.

She'd had her Buffy time, and now she wanted Angel back.

Before she could give herself a chance to change her mind, she turned to Angel.

"I've missed you so much," she blurted out. "I've had my time. And I don't need anymore. I know what I want, it hasn't changed since I was sixteen. What I want is you. I want you back," she said, leaning into him and kissing him.

But then she pulled herself away. "Sorry," she said, looking at him nervously.

Angel just looked surprised.

"Actually, no, I'm not sorry," she said, leaning into him again.

That's when Willow popped in.

"Oh God," Buffy said, pulling away from Angel.

"Hey Will."

"Hi guys," Willow said awkwardly, knowing she just interrupted something. "I think it's time I got you guys out of here. I'm gonna bring you back to Rome with us Angel, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me. It'll give me and Buffy a chance to talk."

"You two can do whatever you like. Buffy's just got to make sure she goes to see her sister, because Dawn is totally flipping out. I told her what happened, but she needs to see Buffy with her own eyes. She doesn't care that I said Buffy was fine."

"Let's not keep Dawnie waiting then," Buffy said, quickly getting up.

'_Maybe I shouldn't have done that,' Buffy thought to herself._

Maybe Willow popping in at that moment was a sign. Or maybe it was just crappy timing.

Buffy's brain was working at high-speed. Only something involving Angel could give her a headache so quickly, it always made her think too much.

"Alright Buffy, I'll take you first. I'm not gonna try to take both of you at once because I'm

honestly not feeling 100% . I'll be back for you really soon, Angel," Willow said.

"Don't you dare leave," Buffy blurted out to Angel.

"I promise I won't," Angel told her. "I'm gonna wait for Willow."

"Good," Buffy said, wrapping one arm around Willow. "I'll see you soon."

Before Angel could count to five Willow and Buffy were gone.

Did Buffy actually say she wanted him back? She did, right? He'd heard it. And she kissed him. He'd tasted that. He wasn't crazy.

He'd been waiting a long time to hear her tell him she wanted to be with him again, he wouldn't lie. He'd thought about it a lot. But now that he'd heard her say the words, he was unsure. Not unsure about how he felt. He still wanted her back big time. He had never stopped loving her, never would. He was just unsure about Buffy.

Did she really mean what she said, or did she say it just because she was happy that they were both still alive? Was it a spur of the moment deal? Was she regretting what she said to him right now?

He couldn't stop thinking about it. He tried, but he couldn't. He was so deep in his own thoughts he didn't even notice Willow pop back in later on.

"Hey," Willow said, trying to get his attention.

"Oh, you're back. That was fast."

"You look pensive, Angel. What're you thinking about?"

"Did Buffy say anything to you?" Angel asked.

"No, but I know I kind of interrupted something between you two. Sorry about that by the way," Willow said. "What happened?"

"Does she ever talk about me?" Angel asked, ignoring the question.

"Sometimes," Willow answered.

"Oh," Angel replied, sounding not so enthusiastic.

"She dreams about you just about every single night, though," Willow told him.

Angel's eyes opened a bit more, and Willow grinned.

"If you ever tell her I told you that, I will deny everything," Willow warned. "I hear her say your name. The walls in the house aren't that thick... Now tell me what happened. I'm the best friend, this is essential info for me, you know. I _am_ your way out of here remember?"

Angel laughed a bit. "She told me she missed me."

"That's been damn obvious for years now, Angel."

He gave her a look.

"Sorry," Willow apologized. "I'm shutting my mouth. I'm listening."

"She said she wants me back."

A big smile spread across Willow's face. "That's great."

"I don't know if she means it."

"I'm sure she does," Willow said kindly. "Anybody who knows her knows that she still loves you... But let's get back to Rome, and you can talk to her yourself, big guy," she said, holding out her arm to Angel.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Angel vowed that if he could avoid it, he would never fly with Willow again. He felt absolutely sick. He was happy to be on solid ground.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"Flight sickness?" Willow teased.

"No," Angel lied.

"You're staying with us, by the way, no talking to Buffy and then leaving. So don't even try to object. The house is big, so don't worry about being all cramped."

"So who's there exactly?" Angel asked.

"Me, Xander, Buffy and Dawn officially live there. Faith crashes with us when she's in town, and sometimes Giles does too, but he usually stays at the Fortress."

"Fortress?"

"The Slayers' training camp. It's massive and really well protected so we just call it the Fortress," Willow explained.

"Oh, okay," Angel said. "Are you sure it's a good idea for me to stay here?"

"Yes it is. Everyone will be happy to see you."

Angel raised his eyebrow.

"Okay, okay. Xander and Giles might not be overjoyed , but you know it's nothing personal. They do respect you, and even if they don't let on, they do like you. The past is the past, Angel. Dawn will be happy to see you, she's always liked you. And if Faith stops by, that'll be all good, cuz you two get along fine. It's probably the whole deal with you saving her from going all evil again."

Angel smiled a bit. "Alright, let's go in."

Willow opened the door and ushered Angel inside, where he found Buffy, Xander, Dawn, and even Faith all waiting by the door.

"Hi guys," he said awkwardly.

"Hey Angel," Xander said weirdly, but not in a mean way.

"Hi Angel," Dawn said with a grin.

"Hey kid," he responded with a chuckle.

"Do I look like a kid?" she asked.

"My mistake," Angel apologized laughingly.

"If it isn't my favourite vamp," Faith said. "It's been awhile, Angel," she grinned.

"Good to see you Faith."

"You too," she answered.

"Hey Faith, Dawn, Xander, I need your help, with something in the back," Willow said.

Faith burst out laughing. "Subtlety is not your thing Willow. Just say 'guys get the hell out of here, Buffy and Angel need to talk.'"

"Okay then, everyone who isn't Buffy or Angel, come with me, those two need to talk," Willow said.

Dawn grinned and there was a shadow of a smile on Xander's face as they followed Faith and Willow out of the room.

"Good old Willow and Faith," Buffy said awkwardly.

"Did you mean it?" Angel asked, getting right to the point. "Or is it something you thought that you had to say? I don't know."

Just as she was about to answer, the door opened and Giles walked in.

"Oh hello."

"Hi Giles," Angel said.

"Hey," Buffy greeted.

Were Buffy and Angel ever gonna get to talk? Not if they stayed here. They needed to leave.

"We'll see you later Giles, tell the others that me and Angel are going for a walk. It's gonna be a long one."


	6. Chapter 6

oooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy.

Now that Buffy knew she and Angel were really going to talk, a wave of emotions flooded her.

She had so much more to say to him than she had thought before.

"I'll answer you, I promise, but there are some things I want to say first," Buffy told Angel, leading him onto her favourite path.

"Okay," Angel answered.

"I'm probably gonna say some things that you're gonna feel bad about, but I swear, that's not what I want. It's just stuff I need to say."

Angel nodded uneasily.

"I'm not gonna ask if you know how much I love you, because I'm sure you do... I loved you from the second you first kissed me, before even. A part of me even loved you when you were Angelus. I don't know if you remember, but near the beginning of when you were bad, I was patrolling one night and you tracked me down... I thought you were there to fight me as usual, apparently not.

"You told me to come over to your side, said that we'd be together again, if I'd just let you turn me. And you know what, for a few minutes, a part of me, not the part that won out, but still a little part, wanted to say yes to you... So I loved you for awhile even when you were bad. I loved you when I killed you," Buffy said, now tearing up at that memory. "I loved you so much," she said, sitting down on a bench.

"Hey. Don't cry about that," Angel gently told her. "You did what you had to do. You couldn't have risked the whole world for me."

"I almost did, though. For a few seconds the rest of the world didn't matter, because _you_ were _my_ world. How was it fair that you finally came back, that you were good, _mine _again, and that it would have to be _me _to send you away? It wasn't fair, but I did it.

"I killed you, and I left Sunnydale... I didn't contact anyone. Nobody heard from me for months. I was hiding. I was trying to forget what I did, but I couldn't because I saw you wherever I went... I was pathetic, I was nobody. I didn't Slay, but finally I did go back to Sunnydale.

"And that was hard, because I had to accept that you were gone. I tried to move on, I met that nice guy, Scott, and then what happened? You came back... I don't know if you can ever understand what was going on in my mind. It was crazy. I had to force myself to keep my distance from you. I tried to be cold with you. I tried to forget my feelings. I needed to control myself. A part of me needed to stay away from you because I remembered that it was my fault you turned evil in the first place.

"It was pretty much my own fault that I had to kill you... But I couldn't stay away for long. How was I supposed to stay away from you when we were in the same small town? How was I supposed to forget you, when I didn't want to? How was I really supposed to move on knowing that you still loved me and that I had never stopped loving you?

"So we got back together, and I felt good again. Inevitably though, something had to happen. You decided to break up with me. I remember telling you that I wanted my life to be with you, and you said that you didn't. You broke my heart... Later on I figured out that you didn't mean that you didn't want to be with me. You just meant that you didn't want me to be with you. And that was a hard difference to figure out.

"You wanted the best for me, I understood that eventually. But I still wanted you. It wasn't fair for you to leave just because you thought you weren't good for me. I was mad... And then I remember Faith shooting you with the arrow, when she was all psycho. Angel, I was so scared that you were gonna die, that you would really go away, and that I'd never see you again. The gang told me that the blood of a Slayer was the only way to cure you. I was going to kill Faith for you. I was going to kill her so that you wouldn't die.

"That didn't work out, so what did I decide to do? I decided that you were going to take my blood, because there was absolutely no way that I would let you die. It's scary to think of a world that you're not in. So I let you drink me, I trusted that you wouldn't drain me and kill me. If ever there was any doubt that I loved you or you loved me, that erased it all. I put my life in your hands and you protected it.

"You fought against your nature for me... I just couldn't believe that after something like that had happened between us, something that intimate, you could still want to leave. But you did leave me. I know you thought it was all for my own good, but that didn't help... I've grown up a lot since then, but you screwed me up, Angel.

"You made me love you so much, and then you were just gone. Out of my life within the blink of an eye... Would you do that again? Would you leave me again?" Buffy asked Angel.

"No," he answered her.

"No more deciding what's good for me?"

"No," he said again. "I gave up on that. Who am I to make decisions for you, especially after seeing that I'd made the wrong one? I gave up on listening to people say that we were doomed from the beginning. Nobody can know that, they're not us. So if you tell me that you meant what you said back in L.A, I swear, the only way I'm leaving you is if you send me away. Nothing and nobody but you can ever make me leave. Nobody else is gonna tell me what to do."

"Good," Buffy said. "...Because I meant every word that I said in L.A."

A loud crash-like noise was heard, just after Buffy said those words.

"What the hell is going on?" Angel asked.

"I have no idea, but we better get back to the house. That crash sounds like it came from that direction."

Buffy and Angel ran back to the house as fast as they could.

Buffy couldn't believe her eyes.

Her house was on fire. And the gang was still inside.


	7. Chapter 7

oooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review!

"Oh my God," Buffy yelled. "Angel, I don't know if they're in the house or not. I've got to go in," she said, running towards the house.

Angel ran after her.

"Get the hell away!" Faith yelled. "You're going the wrong way B. Fire equals run away from the house, not back into it."

She was followed by Dawn, Giles, Willow, and Xander. They were all okay.

"I was coming to see if you guys were still in there, ding-dong," Buffy answered, happy that everyone was okay.

"What the hell was that?" Angel asked.

"I think it was a fireball," Giles said uneasily. "We were the only place hit."

"Oh come on," Xander complained. "Why in Rome? ...I wonder who's after us now," he said bitterly.

"Well come on Xand, you knew they'd find us eventually," Dawn said.

"Evil always finds us. But why'd they have to set fire to our house. I love the house," Buffy said, chiming in.

"I can fix most of the damage," Willow said, trying to smile.

"Yeah, I know. But still, it just pisses me off," Buffy said.

"Let's see what I can do," Willow said, putting her hands out in front of her, and moving back towards the house, beginning to chant.

Faith and Xander followed Willow, wanting to see the magic in action.

Nobody was ready for what happened next. They didn't know what to do.

A massive ball of fire fell from above and landed straight on top of Buffy's three friends, burning them so quickly and so badly that there was nothing left.

Willow, Xander, and Faith were all dead.

Dawn fainted and Buffy began yelling madly.

"No. Oh my God, NO!" she howled, running towards where they had been standing, where only fire remained now.

Giles was holding back the urge to vomit. He couldn't believe they were dead. He wanted to cry, but he knew he couldn't. He picked Dawn up, and called for Angel.

"Angel, you get Buffy away from there. I'm taking Dawn over to the Fortress. It's massive, you'll know exactly where it is. Meet me there with Buffy soon."

Buffy was quickly approaching the flames, and it didn't look like she was going to stop. Angel ran after her. Buffy didn't stop. She ran _through_ the fire and back into the house, which itself was still on fire on the outside.

"Are you mental?" Angel yelled after her, following her inside through the flames, ignoring the danger the flames could put him in.

"Buffy, where are you?" he yelled, running from room to room, trying to find her.

He finally found her with a bunch of things in her arms.

"Buffy we need to go now."

"No. I need the stuff from Will's room. And I need the picture," she said fiercely.

"I'll get the picture," he said, knowing which one she was talking about. He saw it one the way up. "You go get what you need from Willow's room, and then you meet me downstairs, and fast. Do you understand me?"

Buffy nodded absentmindedly as she ran to get the last reminders she would have of her friends.

Angel pulled the picture off of the wall, and yelled for Buffy.

"We have to get out of here now."

Buffy came running down the stairs, arms overflowing, and carrying two bags on her shoulder.

Angel grabbed the stuff out of her arms, and pulled her out of the house, leading her to the Fortress.

"Let go of me," she hissed at him.

He let go of her arm. "Then come with me," he told her calmly.

And that's when Buffy finally broke down and began to cry.

"They can't be gone, Angel," she sobbed, throwing herself into his embrace. "They can't be

dead. What the hell am I supposed to do without Willow and Xander? It's not fair. They were good. They were wonderful. I love them so Faith, she turned around. She was doing good for people. She was helping. We were friends again... Xander, Willow..." Buffy said, unable to control her breathing.

"I'm so sorry, Buffy," Angel told her. "I know you loved them. And I don't know what to say to make things better, I don't think there _is _anything I can say to make your pain go away. But we need to leave. We have to get to Giles and your sister."

"Dawn," Buffy mumbled.

"Yes," Angel said. "She's gonna need you now. You need her right now too. So let's go," Angel encouraged.

Buffy nodded her head slowly, but it took her a few minutes to make any sort of a move to leave. Her world was never going to be the same again.

When they got to the Fortress, Dawn was waiting at the door. Buffy ran to her sister, and hugged her tightly, and both young women cried together.

Angel walked over to Giles.

"Are you okay?" he asked kindly. "I know what they all meant to you."

Giles just shook his head, afraid to speak. He was sure if he said anything, he would begin to shed tears of his own, and he would not be able to stop them.

Giles cocked his head at Angel.

"Me?" Angel asked.

Giles nodded, trying extremely hard to keep himself calm.

"I mean I know I haven't been around that much, but I considered them all friends. And I can't believe that they're gone. It's not fair," Angel replied. "It's so wrong."

Buffy and Dawn came over to the guys. Buffy headed for her Watcher, and embraced him, finally triggering his tears.

Dawn looked over at Angel. "You're not planning on leaving, right?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

"No," Angel told her.

"Good. Because we're going to need you here," she said quietly, trying to wipe her tears away.

"Come here kid," Angel said, giving her a hug. "It's okay to cry."

"What's going on someone?" someone called out. It was one of the Slayers in Training.

Buffy finally spoke up, and told the girl what happened. The girl seemed devastated, but agreed to let all the other Slayers know what had happened.

Buffy, Angel, Dawn and Giles were silent now.

It was time to try to pick up the pieces.


	8. Chapter 8

oooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and Enjoy.

_"Is there anything you need me to do? Angel asked Buffy, gently touching her arm._

_"Don't touch me. You could do that, and you could leave me alone," Buffy snapped at_ _Angel, shoving his arm away._

_Angel looked stung, but let it roll off his shoulders. "I'm really sorry about your friends._ _I know how important they are to you," he said quietly. "I can see you don't want me_ _here right now, so I'm gonna go. But I'm gonna come back later."_

_"Whatever," Buffy said._

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOo_

What a bitch she had been. Oh, and Buffy knew she had been a bitch. She couldn't help it. It was like after they had got back to the Fortress, she had just become really angry, not just sad, but really, truly, _mad._

She didn't know why, but Angel being nice had made her extra mad, it didn't make any sense at the time. Now that she had thought about it, she began to understand why she had acted the way she did. Angel had, at one point, been part of the lives of her friends, but for the past several years, that wasn't the case. And when he offered his sympathy, it was almost as if it was coming from a stranger, someone who didn't get to say he was really sorry and that he knew how important they were to her... But now that Buffy was calmer, no less miserable, but calmer, she knew that Angel _was _sorry and that he _did_ know how important they were to her. And she began to feel a bit ashamed of herself.

Yes, it's true that Angel hadn't been around, but she knew he cared for Xander and Willow, and in the case of Faith, he was closer to her than Buffy had been. Buffy was just so overwhelmed with her own grief at the time. She just took it out on him.

Buffy was sitting alone on the floor with all of the things she managed to save from the house. Dawn finally fell asleep, and Giles had, also.

Buffy sat on the floor, crying.

She had a sweater of Xander's, the picture of Xander, Willow, herself, Giles, and Dawn, and a lot of other stuff from Willow.

Almost everything that she had of Willow's, Willow wanted her to have. What was creepy was Willow had told Buffy to take those particular things if anything bad ever happened to her. Buffy had told her to shut up, joking that Willow would be alive long after Buffy was dead. So much for that.

Buffy didn't know what she would find when she opened up the boxes that she had put into the bags.

The first one that she opened had a bunch of Willow's magical things inside it. Willow had written a note, too.

_If you're reading this, it means that I'm dead. First of all, I guess, I want to say thank you._ _Thanks, first for remembering that I told you to take these things if something ever_ _happened to me. Secondly, and so much more importantly, thank you for all these years_ _of friendship. _

_Knowing that you were there for me, has gotten me through some of the_ _toughest times in my life. We've had our ups and downs. We've been through it all. I don't_ _have a biological sister, but you've taken that place. You were, and still are my family. I am_ _so proud of you. You have been through so much, and you're still standing._

Buffy paused for a moment, needing to wipe her tears away.

_I love you, and I love Dawnie. And you tell Giles that I love him too. I'm not going to tell_ _you to say anything to Xander, because if my boy is still alive, I told him to grab a box of_ _his own with a letter to him also. I have this feeling though, even as I'm writing this, that if_ _I'm gone, it means Xand-man is gone too. _

_If you ever come in contact with Oz, just tell him_ _that I meant every word I said to him... I hope you're doing okay right now. Please don't_ _be sad. Well, be sad (I need to feel missed. I'm dead now), but don't stay sad for too long."_

A whole new wave of tears poured out of Buffy's eyes, but she was also laughing at Willow's comment. Willow joking, even when she was gone.

_In this box, is a bunch of my magic stuff. I want you or Dawnie to keep them, and learn_ _some things if you can. I think it's best if you let Dawnie dabble. If I'm gone you guys can_ _use some magic around. I'm saying Dawn, because first of all, you're the Slayer, and_ _you're already crazy powerful, and secondly, Dawnie's matured a lot, and it would be goodfor her to learn some new things that might be able to help out in a rough situation... I_ _haven't left anything that's too powerful, or that could really hurt anyone..._

_Now here's the one good thing about being dead, I can finally tell you exactly what I've been wanting to tell you, because now I'm not afraid that you'll bark at me. You won't be able to, and you won't want to, because your emotions are all over the place. You'll read and you'll actually think about what I'm telling you._

_Who knows, maybe by now something has already happened. Maybe you're with someone._ _And if you are, he had better be good to you. If you're not with anyone, or if you are, and_ _your whole heart isn't there with him, leave _right now_. Run in the other direction. No more_ _settling, do you hear me? I didn't see it at the time, but all you've been doing for the past_

_several years is settling for someone that makes you feel nice, or makes you feel _anything

_at all. _

_You haven't loved a guy with your whole heart since Angel, don't even try to deny it._ _I know you've tried hard to love, but I think your heart will always be stuck on Angel. He's_ _your "_one guy". _So here's what I'm telling you to do, if you haven't already done it. Go find_ _Angel, tell him that you still love him and that you want to be with him again. _

_Screw what_ _other people say. If you want it to work with Angel, it will work. You two are not doomed,_ _you've got big obstacles and complications, but something that made you as happy as you_ _were back in high school is worth fighting for. You know that he still wants you, _I _still know_ _that he wants you, and I also happen to know that _you still want him._.. _

_Right now you'll_ _either be shaking your head or you'll be forming some sort of smile on your face, wiping_ _away tears from your eyes. You'll be shaking your head if you haven't spoken to Angel and_ _you're still in denial, or you'll be smiling a little smile because you two have already worked_ _things out... You want to know how I know that you still want Angel, besides the whole me_ _being your best bud and knowing you so well bit? You talk in your sleep... Your eyes_ _probably just got wider, not believing me, but trust me Blondie, you do talk in your sleep._

Buffy let out a small laugh, Willow knew her too well, she knew her every reaction.

_The walls in our place are pretty thin so I've heard quite a bit over the year. You dream_ _about the guy every night. You better go to him or be with him to make it all right... Hey,_ _that rhymed... I think you're done baking. You're Buffy cookies now... Take good care of_ _everyone, I know you will. But remember to take care of yourself too, okay? _

_You're not the_ _only Slayer in town, there's plenty. Though since I'm confessing, I'll admit, they've got_ _nothing on you... As of right now, your time allowed for being sad is over. No more tears. I_ _want you to smile. Please do that for me, I really do mean it._

_My friend, I want you to be happy._

_I loved you from the beginning, Buffy. Love you even more, here at the end._

_Willow._

Buffy tried hard not to cry again as she opened the other boxes up. There were a bunch of old keepsakes in there, and there was also a brand new wooden stake. Willow had a small note with that, also.

_I've been working on this for you for awhile now, trying to make it just right. Sure it's just_ _a stake if you look at it, but it's more than that. I've poured some of my magic into it._

_Nobody can take this from you unless you give it willingly. It will not wear over time (if I've_ _done the magic right) and if for some reason you lose it, it will come to you if you call for_ _it... Slay some bad guys for me!_

"I need you guys with me," Buffy said, sobbing like a baby for the next five minutes.

"Will said no more tears," Buffy finally told herself, wiping her eyes, vowing to do what Willow wanted.

Buffy picked up her new stake and kissed it. "My little forever piece of Willow," she smiled.

She got up slowly and began to gather the boxes up.

"You want some help?" Angel asked, coming into the room.

"Hey," Buffy said softly, turning around. "Sure, just be gentle with the stuff, if you don't mind. You can just put the boxes back into the bags."

"I can do that," Angel said, begin to gather some things up. "How are you feeling?... Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?"

Buffy just stared at Angel.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Those were stupid questions."

"No they weren't," she assured him. "And, I'm sorry about before-"

"Don't apologize to me, Buffy. It's fine," he told her.

Buffy tried to give him a smile.

"Will left me a letter, and she told me that I wasn't allowed to be sad anymore. No more tears, she said... a lot of things. She also left me this," she said, showing Angel the new stake.

"She wants Dawn to have her magic stuff."

"Dawn will probably be happy about that."

"Yeah, I think she will be," Buffy said, getting emotional. Something had been eating away at Buffy since she saw her friends die.

"Angel, this is gonna sound like it's about you and me, and in a way it is. But really, I'm just asking you a question that I need an answer to, before I can really stop the tears for Willow and Xander."

"Okay," Angel said.

"Personally I've always thought it was obvious, but I need to know. You knew that I loved you, right? Even though I didn't always tell you?" she asked with a childlike innocence.

"I knew," Angel told her gently.

"So Will and Xander, they knew I loved them, right? Even though, I didn't say it all the time?"

"Of course Willow and Xander knew," Angel answered. "And Faith wanted me to tell you something. She told me before she went back to Sunnydale to help you guys out. In case something happened to her, she wanted me to tell you that she was sorry.

"She couldn't do it herself. But she wanted you to know she was sorry for all that she'd done. And she hoped one day you could truly forgive her. And she also wanted to say thanks, because before she went bad, at the beginning, you two were friends, and she was grateful for that."

"She told you that?" Buffy asked, a little shock that Faith would have mentioned that to Angel to pass along to her.

"She did. She couldn't say it to you. You know Faith."

Buffy let out a little laugh, and smiled a bit.

"I do know Faith, and I know that was hard for her to do, even if she was only telling you and not me. That means a lot."

"I'm sorry if this is going to sound rude or insensitive, that's not how I want it to sound. But I think we need to start thinking about what happened, but try not to get caught up in all the emotions of it. We need to think about why it happened, and why it was only your house targeted. We've got trouble here," Angel said uneasily.

Buffy nodded her head, and wiped her eyes for the last time. Willow asked her not to cry, and Buffy was going to honour that.

"You're probably thinking that they came here because of what happened in L.A.," Buffy said. "But I don't think that's why. I think L.A. was just the beginning. That was your city. Now they're coming for mine. It makes sense in a bad way. You pissed them off, they destroyed L.A. and I've been fighting in Apocalypses for ages now, of course they were gonna come after me too.

"If they're intent on destroying the world, these big bads, it makes sense to try to take you _and _me out. If we're gone, it'll be easier to destroy the rest... I don't know if they were just sending a message today or if they made a mistake... Either way, we're not gonna let them win, and they're gonna pay...

"I don't care how many there are, or how strong they are. We need to win. I'm sick of evil winning out, and taking good people away."

"I think we need to get Giles, and talk about some kind of a plan with him," Angel said.

"Yeah, we do need to do that," Buffy answered.

"But first, you need to sleep, Buffy. You're exhausted, and don't try to deny it. Tomorrow we'll start with battle plans and all that fun crap, but tonight you need to sleep," Angel told her.

Buffy looked at Angel, really looked at Angel. It had been awhile, but he was still the same.

He was still trying to make her feel better, still looking out for her. Still making her heart melt in the midst of her agony. He was always familair. He was always hers. She needed that right now.

"I _am_ tired. But you must be tired too. So the only way I'm going to sleep is if you do the same thing," Buffy said, opening one of the cupboard doors, and pulling out some blankets.

"I guess I could use some shut-eye," Angel said, as Buffy put one of the blankets down on the floor.

"Then come over here," Buffy said, lying down, patting the spot beside her.

"I'm gonna take up all your blanket space," Angel said.

"Don't get all gentleman-like on me now, Angel," Buffy said. "My friends died not even 24 hours ago. Part of me died today. Just stay with me, hold onto me, take up all the blanket space you need. I'm not feeling so strong right now, so I need you beside me tonight... I'll be strong tomorrow," Buffy said quietly.

"You're always strong, even right now," Angel said, lying down beside her, pulling her closer to him.

"I try," she said.

"Sleep now," Angel whispered.

"Goodnight," Buffy said.

"Goodnight."


	9. Chapter 9

oooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. It's pretty much a big dream sequence, but not all.

_Buffy, Willow, and Xander walked into the Bronze, laughing without a care in the world._

"_Buffy, don't," two voices said._

"_Don't what?" Buffy whispered._

"_You need to push us out of your dreams," Willow and Xander said gently._

"_No," Buffy said, stubbornly. "This is the only place I can still see you."_

"_We miss you too, you know?" Xander smiled._

"_Then why are you guys trying to leave me for good?" Buffy asked sadly._

"_We'll never leave you for good. I know we're still in your heart," Willow said. "And that's_ _where you need to keep us."_

"_I can keep you there and still dream, what's wrong with that?"_

"_Dreaming gives you false hope, and that's not something you can afford to have right_ _now. We're always with you, but we're also gone, Buffy... Keep us out of your head for_ _awhile. I promise you, if everything works out, the three of us will have another chance to_ _see each other...You need your head to be clear... Do me a favour, go back to dreaming of Angel. That's probably the direction your thoughts should be focused on. _

"_You guys are in for_ _a whole lot of craziness. The big guys told us that there's gonna be a lot of things that seem_ _impossible, things you won't understand. But everything is possible now. Things that had_ _certain consequences for you, let's just say, now, the consequences won't be bad. What_ _would result, will happen naturally. There won't be backlash that will break your heart._

"_The result will be good. There will be nothing bad about it. The result is very much_ _wanted by the big guys, and deep down, by you too... I wish I could tell you more, but_ _they won't let me tell you anything else... We need to go now Buffy."_

"_But I'll see you again, you promise?" Buffy asked desperately._

"_Will knows way more than I do but they told us if all of this works out, we'll have one more_ _chance together," Xander told her._

"_We love you, Buffy. We'll be seeing you, just not in your dreams, not for awhile" Willow_ _said, as she and Xander disappeared._

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOo_

"_Before I was the Slayer, I was... Well, I don't wanna say shallow, but let's say a certain_ _person, who will remain nameless, we'll just call her Spordelia, looked like a classical_ _philosopher next to me... Angel, if I'm not the Slayer, what do I do? What do I have to_ _offer? Why would you like me?"_

"_I saw you before you became the Slayer."_

"_What?"_

"_I watched you, I saw you called. It was a bright afternoon in front of your school. You_ _walked down the steps and... I loved you."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I saw your heart. You held it before you for everyone to see, and I was worried_ _that it would get bruised or torn. And more than anything in my life, I wanted to keep it_ _safe, to warm it with my own."_

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOo_

"_Where have you been?"_

"_I went to see the oracles. I asked them to turn me back."_

"_What? Why?"_

"_Because more than ever, I know how much I love you."_

"_No. No. You didn't."_

"_And if I stay mortal, one of us will wind up dead, maybe both of us. You heard what_ _Moragh said."_

"_Moragh's gone. We killed him."_

"_He said others would come."_

"_They always come and they always will. But that's my problem now, not yours,_ _remember?"_

"_No. I won't just stand by and let you fight, maybe die, alone."_

"_Then we fight. Together."_

"_Buffy, you saw what happened last night. If anything, I'm a liability to you. You take_ _chances to protect me, and that's not just bad for you, it's bad for the people we were_ _meant to help."_

"_So, what, you just took a whole 24 hours to weigh the ups and downs of being a regular_ _Joe, and decided it was more fun being a superhero?"_

"_You know that's not it... How can we be together if the cost of it is your life? Or the lives of_ _others?... I couldn't tell you. I wasn't sure if I could do it if I woke up with you one more_ _morning."_

"..._I understand... So what happens now?"_

"_The oracles are giving us back the day. They're turning back time so I can kill Moragh_ _before his blood makes me mortal."_

"_When?"_

"_Another minute."_

"_Minute? No. No. It's not enough time."_

"_We don't have a choice. It's done."_

"_How am I supposed to go on with my life, knowing what we had, what we could have had?"_

"_You won't. No one will know but me."_

"_Everything we did-"_

"_It never happened."_

"_It did. It did. I know it did... I felt your heart beat..."_

"_Buffy."_

"_Oh God, it's not enough time."_

"_Shh. Please. Please."_

"_I'll never forget. I'll never forget. I'll never forget. I'll never forget. I'll never forget."_

o

"What the hell?" Buffy cursed as she woke up, wiping her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked, waking up too.

Buffy just stared at Angel.

"What?" he asked.

"I can't believe you did that," she finally said.

"Did what?"

"You were human, and we were together. And you took back the day. Why? _Why?_"

"How do you know about that?" Angel asked her.

"I don't know I just saw it in my damn dream. Nothing makes any sense anymore," she said, getting up.

"Please don't be mad," Angel said. "It was years ago."

"I can't talk to you right now. I'm gonna take a walk. Don't follow me," she said, leaving the room.

Angel sighed.

"Great. More drama. That's all me and Buffy need. More drama, and heartbreaking memories," he said sarcastically. "It was the wrong decision, sure, but I did it for a good reason," he mumbled to himself.

He sat there for over an hour, not moving, until Buffy came bursting back into the room.

Angel just stared at her and she stared back at him angrily for a few minutes.

"Buffy, I'm sorry. It's not that I didn't want to be with you. You know that. I was trying to do the right thing."

"I think I can forgive you," Buffy blurted out. "I don't want to have any more bad feelings inside, right now. I have more than enough, already. It was years ago. You thought you were doing something good... And you wouldn't do anything like that again," Buffy said, trying to keep her emotions in check. She couldn't deal with sadness and anger, so she decided to throw the anger away.

"Right," Angel told her. "I wouldn't, because I don't want to be without you anymore."

That softened her. The anger was going away quicker now.

"Good... I need to know that there's something that I can count on. Something that isn't going to change on me... My dreams- I feel like I'm going crazy" Buffy said, sitting back down beside Angel.

He looked at her and gave her a small smile, and suddenly Buffy couldn't stand the small distance that was between them. She wanted to be close to him, wanted him to take the pain away. She just wanted him. She closed the distance with a kiss, and not a soft little innocent one.

Angel responded instantly and eagerly, but soon he was the one to pull away.

"Buffy-"

"Shut up," She said cutting him off. "Don't say anything."

"Do you have a desire to see Angelus again?" Angel said. "Cursed, remember?"

"You lose your soul if you have a moment of _pure happiness_. That's not gonna happen again."

"It's _you. _Of course it'll happen."

"Thank you... But come on Angel, there's been too much loss and heartbreak. It couldn't be pure happiness again, even with me, at least not now-"

"You're mourning, Buffy. You're not thinking straight. It would be like taking advantage of you. And I won't do that, no matter how much I want you," Angel told her.

"Stop trying to be my hero. Yeah, I'm mourning big time. But I know exactly what I'm doing. I want you. And if it's what I want, that's not taking advantage, Angel, it's just doing what we both want to do," she whispered.

Angel stopped Buffy from saying anything else, silencing her with his lips. Apparently he believed her, because clothes were beginning to fly off.

Morning hadn't come yet. They didn't have to face all the evil that the next day would bring. Not yet, tonight was their night.

Right now it was only about Buffy and Angel.

ooooooooooooo Let me know what you think.


	10. Chapter 10

ooooooooooooo Here's a new chapter.

For the first time in a long time, Buffy didn't dream. Dreams and weird messages didn't flood her mind that night. She just slept, and Angel was right next to her.

She stared at him for awhile as he still slept. She couldn't believe it. They'd been _together_, fallen asleep, woken up and spoke, and there was no sign of Angelus. They had both happily went back to sleep, and now Buffy was up once again.

She felt good. It was a really nice feeling, a feeling she hadn't really had since she had graduated from high school. What was sad was, this happened, and her friends were not around. She would never be able to have it all at once. How she missed them already.

But she'd take what she could get, and she would remember Willow's orders for happiness. She leaned over and kissed Angel very gently on the lips, trying not to wake him up. "I love you," she whispered. It felt good to be able to say that, and it scared the hell out of Buffy at the same time.

"Love you too," Angel smiled, opening his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Buffy apologized. "Go back to sleep. I wasn't trying to wake you up."

"Sure, sure," Angel grinned. "And don't apologize for that. I don't think a guy could ask for a better way to wake up."

Buffy laughed.

Someone was knocking on the door, and both Angel and Buffy got up, scrambling for their clothes.

"Just a second," Buffy yelled, jumping back into her pants.

"Okay. Come in," Angel said.

"Hello," Giles said, walking into the room.

"Hi," Buffy and Angel both responded.

Giles was here and it was time to make a plan and find out what had happened the day before.

"Where's Dawnie?" Buffy asked. "I'm not keeping her out of this. Even if I wanted to, I can't keep her out of this stuff anymore."

"She's still asleep, I think...Are you sure?" Giles asked.

"Yeah... I'll go get her," Buffy said, exiting the room, leaving Giles and Angel standing together awkwardly.

"Did you sleep well?" Giles asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Very," Angel answered uneasily.

"And you're not evil." Giles said, knowing exactly what had happened between Buffy and Angel that night.

"Excuse me?" Angel said.

"I take it you managed to get rid of your curse somehow," Giles said in a perfectly normal tone.

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked, knowing full-well what Giles was talking about, but absolutely not willing to discuss it with him.

"Oh don't play dumb, Angel," Giles said annoyingly. "You and Buffy weren't exactly quiet as bunnies."

"No disrespect Giles, but that's not your business," Angel said.

"Yes it is-" Giles started.

"No it isn't," Buffy said, cutting him off, walking back into the room with Dawn. "I could hear you from down the hall, Giles. Dawnie heard you too, thanks a lot."

"But-"

"Giles I love you, I really do. But you need to butt out of what's between me and Angel. The curse is still there, but we're not stupid, Giles."

"Then what do you call what you two did?" Giles said, uncomfortable, but not wanting to back down either.

"Giles, back off," Dawn said, coming to her sister's aid. "So what, Buffy and Angel had sex. Big whoop. He's not evil. The world is still turning. His curse probably didn't kick in because it's pretty damn impossible to be perfectly happy right about now, isn't it?" Dawn said angrily.

Giles had no response. And both Buffy and Angel seemed a bit shocked.

"Buffy said that we were gonna talk about what happened- who attacked," Dawn said, trying not to get emotional, thinking about Xander, Willow and Faith.

"Yeah, we are, but there's something I have to show you first," Buffy said, putting her arm around her sister's shoulder, bringing her to Willow's magic box.

"Will wanted you to have this stuff. She wants you to learn some of the things she knew, _if_ you want to," Buffy told her.

Dawn picked up the box. "Of course I want to," Dawn said, smiling a bit. "Now I won't have to sneak around... I used to read some of her books. I tried out a couple spells a few times. Just for fun... You're not gonna tell me that I can't do this, right?" Dawn asked Buffy.

"No I'm not," Buffy told her sister. "If you want to learn, I won't stop you. Will said none of that stuff is too dangerous, so it's okay with me."

"Thanks," Dawn said. "So I'm in this now? No more 'keep Dawn out of the loop' and 'I need to protect Dawnie?' crap?"

"No more keeping you out of the loop. You'll know what I know. But me needing to protect you, that doesn't change, Dawnie, not ever. It's built into my DNA," Buffy smiled.

"One out of two isn't that bad," Dawn said, cheering up slightly.

"Alright then, about what happened," Giles said.

"Did anyone get a look at what dropped the fireballs?" Angel asked.

"No, just saw Willow and-" Dawn started, unable to say anything else, picturing the terrible event all over again.

Buffy put her arms around her sister, from behind, resting her head on Dawn's shoulder.

"It's okay," Buffy whispered. "I know it's hard Dawn. Trust me, I know."

Dawn took a deep breath and leaned her head against her sister's.

"I didn't see anything either," Angel said.

"Ditto," Buffy replied.

"I did catch a very quick glimpse, and if it was what I thought it was, I have some knowledge," Giles said. "I believe it's called _Demonio del Fuego. _It's a fire demon, but not just any fire demon. This particular one is one of the first creatures sent in the Apocalypse. It's kind of like the calm before the storm, because if that seemed bad, what's supposed to come after it is absolutely horrible."

"What comes after the _Fuego_ guy, and how long after the fire dude do the others come?" Dawn asked.

"If I'm correct, which I think I am, _Demonio del Fuego _is sent to scare people into thinking something horrible is going to immediately follow. In the last written record, what followed the Demon of Fire didn't come for nearly a year. So people would go back to their normal lives, thinking everything was okay, only to be proven very wrong later on... As to what exactly follows, it was never written down, but basically it's supposed to be really bad. Massive damage in very little time. Mayhem, and lots of death. End of the world type amount of death."

"That's great," Buffy said sarcastically.

"But it can be stopped," Giles said, trying to remain somewhat hopeful for his Slayer.

"How?" Angel asked him.

"The records only say that it can be stopped. It never said how," Giles answered.

"You said, that the rest of the hell that's going to come isn't gonna come right away, right?" Buffy asked Giles.

"That's right."

"Well then what we need to do is get as much research done as possible. We need to learn more, so we can prepare better. And we need to go out and find us some help," Buffy said.

"Kennedy and Rona are supposed to be back tonight, right?" Buffy asked Giles.

"That's right," Giles responded.

"Let them take over the Slayer training for the most part. Giles, you and Dawn are like the research machines, so that's what I want you to do, for the most part. Check in on the Slayers every once in awhile, but I think Rona and Kennedy will train them just fine. You and Dawn are gonna be our source for all information. Does that sound okay to you?" Buffy asked, having a plan already set out.

"Sure, why not?" Dawn said, "whatever I can do to help."

"Good girl," Buffy said.

"That leaves me and Angel to go find some help," Buffy said.

"Who do you have in mind?" Angel asked.

"Oz... Oh God. Willow. We didn't tell Oz about Willow," Buffy said, with her head in her hands.

"I think he knows," Dawn said softly.

"How do you know?" Buffy asked.

"You know when you and Willow went to L.A. and she got hurt? Well Oz called here before she even came back, asking if everything was alright. He said that he'd got a feeling like Willow was in trouble and he was right."

Buffy just nodded her head.

"So, you're going to find Oz?" Giles said.

"Yeah. Will said he's got this pretty big pack. And werewolves are strong. Strong is good. There's some other people, but I've got to think about it some more," Buffy said.

"When are you going to leave?" Giles asked.

"Tomorrow night, if Angel's up for it," Buffy said, answering Giles, but speaking to Angel.

"Sounds fine to me," Angel told her. "As long as we do it at night."

"Alright then, that's the plan," Buffy said.

"If that's it, would you two mind leaving for just a few minutes. I need to talk to Buffy," Dawn said to Angel and Giles.

"No problem," Angel said, dragging Giles out the door with him.

"So what's up?" Buffy asked Dawn.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Dawn asked.

"You know I have to go, Dawnie. We need help."

"Yeah, I know. But I thought I'd at least try to keep you from going, it's gonna be dangerous."

"I know kid, but honestly, what part of my life isn't dangerous?" Buffy grinned.

"Good point, I guess... Well, just be careful then," Dawn said.

"That's all you wanted to say?"

"No," Dawn mumbled.

"What then?"

"I love you, Buffy."

"I love you, too," Buffy smiled. "I'm not dead yet, you know."

"I know that, but I'm worried that that's how it could end up," Dawn admitted. "And I can't have something happen to you, and not have told you that I love you... But you know that I do, right? Even if I'm not always all mushy-gushy with you?" Dawn said seriously.

"Dawnie, you are _so _my sister. You're exactly like me. We don't say those words to people that often, but that doesn't mean we don't love... And yes, I do know. And you know too, right?" Buffy grinned.

"I know," Dawn said, nodding her head.

"Good," Buffy said. "Hey, come here. Look at this," Buffy said, showing Dawn her new stake.

"She finished it after all," Dawn said.

"You knew about it?"

"Yeah, Willow told me she was working on making you this awesome stake... Cool," Dawn said, admiring it.

"What do you say we grab some breakfast?" Buffy asked.

"I say yes," Dawn answered. "I'm hungry."

Just as Buffy and Dawn were about to leave, something dropped onto the floor out of thin air.

Buffy picked the thing up.

"Angel! Giles!" she yelled.

"What is it?" Dawn asked.

"I think it's the Gem of Amarra."

0000000000000000000000000000 Hope you liked the chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

oooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy!

"Gem of Amarra? Didn't Angel destroy that?" Dawn asked, shocked.

"Yeah, he did. But I'm telling you, I'm pretty sure this is it," Buffy insisted.

Angel and Giles hurried back into the room.

"Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine, I just need you guys to tell me what I'm holding in my hands, because I think it's the Gem of Amarra," Buffy said, handing the ring to Giles.

Angel looked really confused. "That's the Gem alright, at least to my eyes, but I destroyed that thing."

"Apparently not," Giles said, fascinated. "This is the Gem of Amarra."

"Absolutely? For real?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, but I have no idea how it got here," Giles said.

"It kinda just popped out of thin air, in front of Buffy," Dawn said.

"I don't know if I like this too much," Giles said, worriedly. "What if it's all a bad plan from the other side?"

"It's not," Buffy answered.

"How can you be so sure?" Angel wondered.

"Just trust me on this one," Buffy insisted. "I feel like I've been going crazy, but I've been seeing things and hearing things in my dreams that aren't just me dreaming. I've seen things that were gonna happen, L.A. for perfect example. I saw you, Angel. I saw everything. That wasn't your typical dream."

Angel nodded.

"And remember when that sword poisoned my blood and almost killed me?" she asked.

"Yeah," Angel nodded.

"When you were gone to get whatever you needed to save me, I thought I was dead, but I wasn't. Then I thought I was dreaming. There was a voice that pretty much told me what was going to happen. The voice told me about the cure, and it said that my cure would probably kill you. The voice was how I knew not to take all the blood, and the voice was the one who said to suffer for a few hours.

"We got through that because I was told in my dreams, or whatever you want to call it. The voice also said to believe what I would see, even if I couldn't understand. It said that the impossible wasn't impossible anymore. And I'm gonna believe that."

"Okay," Angel said. "If you're sure, that's good enough for me."

"The big powers, and not the evil ones, they're trying to help us win this fight," Buffy said. "That's what I think."

"The ring means good things for you two," Giles said to Buffy and Angel. "Angel, as long as you wear the gem, you two can travel by daylight. It will definitely ease up your trip quite a bit."

"Okay, now that we know what that is, for sure, I say we get out of here. I'm hungry. And I want to get down to the kitchen before the others start to get here and take all the good stuff," Dawn said, ending the discussion, heading out the door.

"Now that you mention it, I _am_ rather hungry," Giles said, following Dawn.

"We'll meet you in a bit," Buffy called after them.

"You're not hungry?" Angel asked her.

"No, I am, but so are you. Let's go get you something. There's a butcher not too far from here... You better put that ring on, you and me are gonna take a walk," Buffy smiled, pulling him out the door with her.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Buffy couldn't believe that she was actually outside, _in the sun, _with Angel. She couldn't stop staring at him.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she said with a little laugh. "It's just... I'm seeing you in the sunlight. It's stupid, I know, but it's beautiful, and it's something I used to imagine all the time."

"I know what you mean because I used to think about the same thing a lot, too," he told her.

"Okay then, now that that's been said," Buffy laughed, "you go get what you need from there," Buffy said, pointing to the butcher shop, "and I'm gonna grab something from the bakery. I'll meet you back here in a few minutes," she said, kissing him quickly walking off to the bakery.

She walked away quickly because she felt tears coming on. She was with Angel, out in the sun, in beautiful Rome. It was a miracle. It was beautiful, and it made her more happy than she could explain, and that's what brought on the mini-breakdown.

Why couldn't this happen, and Willow and Xander still be there? Why did her friends have to be gone?

_I wish you were here Will. I wish you could see this. I wish Xander was here so I could seethe look on his face. Faith would definitely get a kick out of seeing Angel in_ _the sun too._

Buffy closed her eyes, and never let any tears fall, because Willow and Xander would not want her crying.

She picked up a few danishes at the bakery and met Angel a few minutes later.

"So tomorrow, are we leaving in the morning?" Angel asked her.

"Yeah, but I'm thinking early, when it's still kind of dark out. Giles said, there probably won't be trouble for months, but just in case, I don't want to make our exit a big production. We don't need anyone knowing unnecessarily, just in case."

"Works for me," Angel told her. "Where did you want to start, though?" Angel asked, as they headed back into the Fortress.

"I'm thinking we start with finding Oz. It's going to take awhile though. He's somewhere in Peru... Then I was thinking we try to find this coven of witches Willow knew. She said they were really powerful. There's others too, but we can find them later, when we really need them."

"I hope one of those is for me," Dawn said, grabbing a danish.

"Me too?" Giles said.

"Yeah I got you one too, Giles," Buffy laughed.

"This is so much better than the Pop Tarts in the kitchen," Dawn said, with her mouth full.

Fussing over breakfast foods, if only life was really this simple. Buffy looked at her sister and smiled. What the hell, she would enjoy the simplicity of the day. Tomorrow was a whole different story.

Tomorrow a whole new journey would begin.


	12. Chapter 12

ooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. I hope you like it. Review please.

Buffy and Angel had been gone from Rome for nearly three weeks now. They had taken a plane into Ecuador, instead of Peru, agreeing to get off before their destination, just in case anyone was watching. If there was, they wouldn't know where Angel and Buffy were really headed.

They made their way through Ecuador, and into Peru on their own.

"So do you know exactly _where _ in Peru we're heading off to?" Angel asked.

"The south," Buffy said.

"The _south_?" Angel repeated.

"Yeah. But come on, you can remember Oz's scent right? You can just track him. You used to track me."

"Tracking you and tracking Oz are two very different things. For one, you and I were always in the same country. And second, I can _never _forget your scent, you, I could probably find you _anywhere. _Oz could have been a different story."

"Are you saying you can't do it?" Buffy asked.

"No. Luckily, I'm pretty sure I can pick up on his scent."

"So what's with all the doubt?"

"It's not doubt, I just want you to make sure you think things through, okay?" Angel said.

"I'm not stupid, you know. I did think about it. I knew Oz was in Peru, but I didn't know how to get in touch with him to ask him where exactly he was, only his general location. So then I thought, hey, Angel can track. He'll get us there. So forgive me for having faith in you," Buffy said, annoyed, grabbing the map away from Angel, and walking ahead.

Angel caught up to her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around. "Come on, don't take everything the wrong way."

"Ow," Buffy said, pushing Angel away.

"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry," Angel said, worried.

"I'm the Slayer, remember? You grabbing my arm isn't gonna hurt me."

"Then what's wrong?" he asked her.

"It's just my stomach. It's nothing. It's fine," Buffy said quickly.

"Don't be mad at me. I didn't mean anything by what I said. I just want you to be careful," Angel said. "You're stuck with me for awhile, remember? Being mad at me might not be so fun, if I'm your only company."

"Don't worry about it. I've just been feeling weird lately. Kinda bitchy. Don't mind me."

"You sure you're okay?" Angel questioned.

"No biggie, don't worry... Are you any good at reading maps? I kick ass, but reading maps is _so _not my forte," she said, handing the map back to Angel.

"Yeah, I'm not bad with maps. I think we just keep going the way we are," Angel told her.

"You wanna just wait here a minute? I wanna grab something to eat from the stand over there," Buffy said, walking over to the vendor's stand.

Angel walked over to one of the other stands and decided to check out some of the hand- crafted sculptures.

Before Buffy got to the stand, she was dragged into a corner by two strange men.

"Get your damn hands off me," she yelled, shaking them off.

"We're not going to hurt you, pretty one. No need to put up a fight," one man said, while the other was untying the back of Buffy's shirt.

"I told you to keep your damn hands off me," Buffy hissed, as she threw one of the men into a nearby wall. After that she send the other one crashing, head first, into a garbage can.

"I thought you were getting something to eat," Angel said, coming to find her. "Whoa, what happened?" he asked, looking at the men on the floor.

"Don't worry about. They're just a little handsy. I think I taught them a lesson."

"Okay, well go get your food. I'll wait for you here," Angel said.

Buffy left and Angel approached the men on the ground.

"You put your hands on her?" he asked in a deadly tone.

"Didn't know she was yours, man. Won't happen again," they assured.

"You're right about that," Angel said, grabbing each of the men by the neck, and slamming them into the wall, _hard, _hands still gripped onto their necks.

Buffy came back within a minute or two.

"Apologize to her," Angel growled at the men.

"It's not your day is it?" Buffy said in a falsely sweet voice, walking up beside Angel. "You should probably do what he says. You don't want another ass kicking, do you? Because I'm totally up for knocking you around some more. And Angel here, won't hesitate to kick your ass either. I'm a big girl, and I take care of myself, as you can very well see, but Angel's still got the whole gentleman thing going on, so he gets a little mad when people screw with me. You really should apologize," Buffy advised.

"So sorry. It will never happen again. We swear," the men stuttered.

Angel let go of their necks and they fell to the floor.

Buffy and Angel walked away and back onto the road.

"You didn't need to that," Buffy said.

"They tried to-"

"But I took care of it," Buffy told him.

"I know that, and I know exactly who you are. You're the Slayer. I know you can take care of yourself. You've been doing it better than anyone for years now. But that doesn't mean that it's okay for anyone to put their hands on you, and that doesn't mean that I'm going to stand around and do nothing."

"That's sweet. Thank you," Buffy said with a small smile.

Buffy hunched over, grabbing at her stomach. "Shit," she cursed.

She didn't know what it was. She was in pain and had the worst cramps possible, but she shouldn't have cramps. She only ever had cramps when she had her period. And she didn't have her period. Maybe it was all this new stress just taking a toll on her body from the inside.

"Do you want to sit down or something?" Angel asked her.

"I know we were gonna do a bit more walking today. But maybe, we should just find a place to stay now instead," Buffy told him.

"Sure," Angel said. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I think I just need to lie down or something. I'll be fine," she said, hoping her words would ring true.


	13. Chapter 13

oooooooooooo Here's another new chapter.

Another week had passed and Buffy and Angel were getting closer to finding Oz and his pack. Angel had picked up on Oz's scent, so they knew they were heading in the right direction.

Buffy was feeling better, but the irregular cramps and pain came and went often. She was a little bit worried, because this stuff just didn't happen to her. It was weird, but she kept her mouth shut.

"It'll be nice to see Oz," Buffy said. "It's been a long time."

"I know, I haven't seen that guy in ages," Angel answered.

"Did you know that Will and him were starting to get back together?" Buffy asked Angel.

"I didn't know that," Angel said.

"Her little thing with Kennedy didn't last long at all, thank God. No offence but Kennedy annoyed the hell out of me... Willow came down here a lot. She came to see Oz and she helped the pack out quite a bit. So I brought it up one day with her, and she admitted that they were getting back together.

"It was like a little piece of the world was getting fixed...What if he doesn't know that she died, Angel? I don't know if I could tell him. I can barely talk about her or Xander, without feeling miserable myself. I'm going to break his heart if I have to break the news to him."

"Dawn was right. I think he already knows," Angel told her.

"But we don't know that for sure."

"There's some people, there's just this feeling you get, and you know. There's a connection, I don't think anyone can explain it, but you can feel the other person. You know when something's wrong."

Buffy nodded her head. He was right. She knew he was right because she had that same type of connection with him.

Apparently neither Buffy nor Angel had been paying much attention to where they were going because they seemed to end up in some sort of alleyway.

Buffy laughed. "I think we lost our way."

"I think you're right," Angel admitted.

"Well look what we have here. I think we've got ourselves some American friends," a scruffy looking man said, coming into the alleyway, followed by seven others.

Angel looked annoyed and Buffy began to laugh.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, _beauty_," the man said.

"And why is that?" Buffy asked.

"Because we want whatever you've got, and there's eight of us, and only two of you."

"Gee Buffy, eight of them and only two of us. Whatever shall we do?" Angel asked, sarcastically.

Buffy grinned.

"Okay, me and Angel here, we're gonna be really nice. If you all just walk away now, we'll totally forget all of this, and we won't even bother with kicking your asses," Buffy said sweetly.

"These two are funny," the scruffy man said. "Especially the little blonde one. You talk bigfor a girl."

"It's not talk. The two of us will take you eight out. Won't even break a sweat," she shot back.

"It's more like one and a half against eight," the scruffy man insulted.

"You really shouldn't have said that," Angel smirked.

Buffy went straight for the scruffy man. He got a kick to the groin, and an uppercut thatsent him flying backwards.

Angel laughed at Buffy kicking those shocked men's asses, while he took out 4 men of his own. Buffy had already taken out all 4 of her men, but she returned to the first one.

"One and a half, huh?" she said.

"I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. Very, very sorry," the scruffy man apologized.

"Damn right you're sorry," Buffy said, kicking him one last time.

"That felt nice," she said, giving the man one last smile, walking away.

"Did you really need to get that last one in?" Angel asked her with a grin.

"I've been very moody, and he really pissed me off, so yes, I did really need to get that last one in," Buffy said, heading back onto the main road.

"Whoa, Oz is really close," Angel said. "He's on the move."

"Well let's find him," Buffy said.

"No need," said a familiar voice. "He's right here."

"Oz," Buffy smiled, walking over to give him a hug.

"Hey," he said quietly, hugging her back, and waving hello to Angel at the same time.

"Do you know?" Buffy asked him nervously.

He nodded.

"I'm not going to ask if you're okay, because I know I'm still not," Buffy told him.

Oz gave her a small smile.

"Where were you headed?" Angel asked Oz.

"I picked up on Buffy's scent," he answered.

"I just have to say it. While the whole picking up on scents is very useful, it's also very weird."

"So, not that it's not great to see you, but what brings you to these parts?" Oz asked Buffy and Angel.

"End of the world type of business."

"That's what I thought," Oz said.

"From what Giles says, we've got time till the big stuff starts, but naturally we're going toneed to stop it, for obvious reasons. And for personal ones, because they're gonna pay for

what they did to Willow, Xander and Faith, and they're gonna pay hard. But we're gonna

need all the help we can get."

"Count me and the pack in. These Apocalypse type deals always seem to fall around the full moon, so we can definitely be of use." Oz said.

"Good," Buffy said.

"Do you want to meet them? The rest of the pack, I mean."

"That sounds good," Angel said.

"Sure," Buffy said, grabbing at her stomach again. There was pain shooting through her. "Okay that's it. This is really starting to piss me off."

"Are you okay?" Angel and Oz both asked.

"I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. Oz, do you know where I can find a doctor or something?" Buffy asked, seriously getting scared for herself. She wasn't used to feeling like this.

"There's a healer not far from where we stay, I could take you to her," Oz offered.

"Yeah, let's do that," Buffy said through gritted teeth. "As soon as possible please."


	14. Chapter 14

ooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy!

"She's right through there," Oz said to Buffy, pointing inside of a tent.

Oz said he knew a healer, but her tent looked a little freaky, like she was into some weird types of magic.

"Hi," Buffy said awkwardly.

"Hello," the healer answered. "What can I do for you?"

"It might just be nothing, but this doesn't usually happen to me... I've been getting these bad cramps and shooting pains in my stomach. It's really painful. And I'm absolutely used to pain, but it's usually on the outside, and not taking over me from the inside," Buffy told the woman.

"Well let me see. Do you mind?" the woman asked, pointing at Buffy's stomach.

"No, go ahead," Buffy said weirdly.

The woman lifted up Buffy's shirt, and put her hand on Buffy's stomach. The look on her face changed almost instantly.

"Well that would explain the cramps and pain," the healer said.

"What would explain the cramps and pain?" Buffy asked.

"The baby," the healer smiled.

"What baby?" Buffy asked.

"Your baby. The one that will begin to quickly grow inside of you soon. You're pregnant," the healer said calmly.

"No I'm not," Buffy told her.

"Yes you are."

"Trust me, I _can't _be pregnant."

"Have you not had sexual relations recently, let's say within the past month, give or take a few days?"

"That's really not your business," Buffy said. "You must be mistaken. I'm not pregnant. Thanks for trying to help, I guess. I'll be going now," Buffy said, turning to leave.

"I am not mistaken, and you need to stop being so immature, thinking you are always right."

"It's not immature when I know I'm right and you're wrong," Buffy yelled at the woman.

"Is everything okay in there?" Angel called from the outside.

Neither Buffy nor the healer answered.

Angel came in. "I heard you yelling. What's wrong?" he asked Buffy.

The healer took a quick look at Angel, and a new smile formed on her face.

"There is nothing wrong," the healer told him, and then turned back towards Buffy. "You should accept that you're-"

"Lady, if you finish that sentence, so help me God, you will regret it for the rest of your life," Buffy threatened.

"You should tell him, you know. It's only right," the healer said, ignoring Buffy's outburst.

"Tell me what?" Angel asked.

"Nothing. We're leaving now," Buffy said, grabbing Angel's arm and quickly leaving the tent.

"What the hell happened in there?" Angel asked.

"I said it was nothing, okay? So let's drop it. The woman is just stupid. She doesn't know anything," Buffy said, very annoyed. "Don't ask me again, please."

Buffy turned to Oz. "I think it's about time that we meet that pack of yours, isn't it?" she said, changing the subject.

"Sure," Oz said, sensing that something was wrong.

Buffy was freaking out silently. She couldn't be pregnant. Besides Angel, Buffy hadn't been with anyone intimately in more than a year (which Willow had loved to tease her about). She couldn't be having a baby, that wasn't a possibility with her and Angel. The healer was mental, that was all there was to it.

They walked for about ten minutes until they came to a massive cabin on the outskirts of the town.

"Welcome to our _casa_. Come on in guys," Oz said, ushering Buffy and Angel inside.

"Everyone, this is Buffy and Angel. Buffy, Angel, this is everyone."

"Hi," Angel said.

"Oz, I think we can use a bit more than 'everyone'. I'd kinda like to know the names of the people I'm going to ask for big favours. I know you said you were pretty sure everyone would help, but I think it would be best if they all decide for themselves."

"Forgive me, Buffy," Oz smiled. "Okay here we go. That's Shayla, he's Pedro, that's Ong-Lee, she's Alessia, he's Mike, Dayna, Mario, Charlie, Rena, Claus, Ernie, Ronaldo, Yasmine, Chris, Xavier, and Athena." There were so many more, but Buffy could not remember their names.

"Nice to meet you," Buffy said.

"Willow was right," the one Oz called Shayla, said. "I like you already."

"Thanks," Buffy said.

"Willow told us a lot about you two," Ong-Lee said to Angel.

"Only good stuff, I hope," Angel joked.

Ong-Lee nodded his head.

"I wish we could have come here to meet you all under better circumstances, but unfortunately, that's not the case... You all know what happened to Wi- Willow. Two more of my friends died also, Xander and Faith. They were all killed by the same creature. A creature my Watcher is sure is the first to be sent of many in the Apocalypse. This creatureis sent to cause fear and mayhem among people, making them worry that something really bad is coming, only never to be followed up by anything, or so it seems.

"The records of the last incident like this say that the next attack didn't come for close to a year, and that's the reason we managed to get over here. Because we believe we have time, to build some kind of defence. All we know is that it can be stopped. We don't know how, so we need all the help we can get. We're here to ask you for your help, because I have no desire for the world to end. You guys are really powerful at the full moon, and that's when this stuff always seems to happen.

"Before you make up your minds, I should tell you this, just in case it would affect your decision... We'd need you to come back to Rome with us. I know it's asking a lot, so I just wanted you to know everything first."

"It's not like I'm tied to this place, so you can definitely count me in," Dayna said.

"I'm in," Ong-Lee chimed in.

"Me too," Shayla said.

Soon everyone had said they would come and try to help, except Rena.

"I don't even know you. All I know is that you're the Slayer. Whoop-di-doo, like Slayer means anything anyway. And telling me the sob-story about your friends doesn't make me care any more. I met Willow, and she was nothing special-"

Buffy knew she wasn't in her own territory and that she was a guest, and that attacking one of the group's fellow werewolves probably wouldn't sit well with the rest of them, but she didn't care.

Buffy lunged at Rena from across the room, taking her down with ease, her hand wrapped around Rena's throat.

Surprisingly, nobody was coming forward to defend Rena.

"If you ever talk about Willow like that again, so help me God, girl, I will snap you in half without blinking once. And don't think that I can't, because Slayer _does_ mean something. Got it?" Buffy said, anger boiling inside.

"You can leave," Oz, Ong-Lee, and Dayna all told Rena.

None of the others chimed in to say that she should stay.

"You don't have to help if you don't want to. Being a coward is your choice, but I can't believe that you have the nerve to say something like that. First of all, Buffy's our guest, second of all Willow was her best friend. Thirdly, Willow was good to us, and did you forget what she meant to Oz, or are you so self-centred that you forgot all that?" Shayla asked.

Buffy finally got off of Rena.

"I'm sorry," Rena said to Buffy, even though Buffy could tell that she didn't really mean it.

"And I'm sorry to you also, Oz. Please, everyone, don't make me leave."

Everyone seemed to be looking to Buffy.

"Hey, this is your turf, not mine. This is your decision," Buffy said, through clenched teeth.

Angel came over to Buffy, and whispered in her ear. "Let's take a walk. Let them decide whatever, and you come walk your anger off."

Buffy nodded, wanting to get of there for a few minutes.

"We're taking a walk," Angel told Oz. "We'll be back."

Oz nodded.

"Stupid bitch," Buffy muttered when she and Angel got outside.

"Don't worry. I don't think they're taking it easy on her in there," Angel told Buffy.

"Willow's nothing special. The nerve of her. How dare she? Willow was special, she was amazing. She was my Willow," Buffy said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Rena had brought out a lot of emotions, causing Buffy to break her silent promise to Willow that she wouldn't cry for her anymore. But she couldn't hold it in. Nobody was allowed to talk badly about Willow, nobody.

"I know how amazing she was," Angel said quietly, hugging Buffy. "Don't let a dummy like Rena get to you. Her opinion means less than nothing. And really, think about it, if that's what she thought about Willow, she didn't know her well at all, and that right there, is her loss, okay?"

Buffy took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay," she said.

After a few minutes, Buffy finally mumbled. "I'm ready to go back in."

She started back towards the cabin.

"Not so fast," Angel said, turning her around.

"Don't worry, as long as she doesn't piss me off again, I won't break her in half," Buffy promised with a glint in her eye that said she really would enjoy doing that.

"Not that," Angel told her.

"Then what?" she asked.

"This," he said, leaning down to kiss her.

"Mmm. _This_ I like," Buffy mumbled, her fingers tangled in Angel's hair.

Before long Shayla, Dayna, Ong-Lee and Rena had come outside, to call Buffy and Angel back in.

Buffy and Angel broke apart reluctantly.

"Sorry," Shayla apologized.

Buffy gave her a little smile.

"We're going to eat. Come on and dig in," she said.

"We'll be in in a couple minutes," Buffy promised.

They went back inside, leaving Buffy and Angel alone once again.

Buffy reached into her back and pulled out a jar, handing it to Angel. "I knew you wouldn't remember to get yourself any, so I picked up some more for you... Drink up," she said.

"I'm good for now. Maybe later," he said.

"How is it that after everything, all this time, after this," she said, pulling her shirt aside, revealing the scar Angel had left on her neck, after drinking from her, "you're still uncomfortable drinking in front of me?"

Angel didn't answer her, he just stared at the scar.

Buffy was going to cover it back up, but Angel stopped her hand.

"Don't," he said, running his fingers across the scar. He felt the difference on her skin, it was bumpier than the rest.

Buffy tried not to let the shiver he was sending through her body take over.

"I'm sorry," he told her, still looking at the mark he left her with.

"Why? You're here and I'm here, and I don't think that's anything to be sorry about," she told him gently. "Now would you just drink what I bought you?" Buffy said. "I'm kind of hungry. And I'm not going in till you drink. So unless you want me to starve, you're gonna drink so I can go inside and stuff my face. Okay?" Buffy said.

"Yeah, yeah," Angel mumbled.

He picked up the jar, and began to drink.

After a few minutes they both went back inside.

"Dig in," Dayna said, pointing at the table.

"I think I will," Buffy grinned, heading for the table, leaving Angel chatting with Oz.

"I'm sorry for Rena, she's definitely the worst of our bunch. She doesn't think before she speaks," Renaldo said.

"Well, the rest of you are great," Buffy smiled at him, piling some food onto her plate.

Shayla came over to the table.

"Sorry about- out there, again," she said.

"That's alright, I can make out with Angel another time," Buffy joked.

Shayla smiled a genuine smile. Buffy liked this girl.

"You must be the one that Willow used to tell me about," Buffy told her. "She never mentioned any specific names, but it's gotta be you. She said you were really sweet and smart. She said you knew some magic, I believe."

"Yeah, I do know some. Mostly it's stuff related to the body and overall health."

"That's cool," Buffy said.

"Tell me if I'm out of line, which I probably am, but how is it that you can be with Angel? Not that I can't see what's to like. There's plenty to like," Shayla asked, and not unkindly,

Buffy sensed that. She really was just asking a question.

"You know he's a vampire, I'm assuming?" Buffy said.

"Yeah, I do, but not everyone else knows."

"Is that what you mean when you ask how I can be with Angel, the whole vamp thing?"

Shayla nodded.

"I can be with Angel because he is one of the best men I know. Because when I look at him, I don't see the vampire. It's not Slayer and Vampire with us. It's more than that, deeper. I love him. I've loved him since I was sixteen. And because he loves me more than any other guy could," Buffy said, without hesitation. She felt comfortable with Shayla, telling her this didn't feel weird.

Shayla smiled. "Sixteen?"

"Yeah," Buffy grinned. "Around eight years now. We've had our time apart, but we're back on track."

"That's good," Shayla said genuinely, as she and Buffy watched Angel from the table. "I've got to say it again. But I'm really sorry for Rena and her stupid mouth. I wish I could say that she didn't mean it, but she did. I won't lie to you because I really like you. She has something against you, and it's the same thing she had against Willow.

"You and Willow are fully human. You don't have these changes you have to go through involuntarily, and she resents you for it. You have control over things that we as werewolves don't always get to have. So she opened her big stupid mouth and tried to take some sort of control away from you. She's jealous," Shayla admitted.

"It's not my fault that I'm not a werewolf," Buffy said. "Is it only pure humans she's got a problem with? She's over there trying to start a conversation with Angel, and she seems not to hate him."

"Angel is a vampire and she knows that. Most vampires don't have a choice in being turned, I don't know what Angel's story is, but that's why she doesn't hate him. She believes he had no choice in becoming the way he is," Shayla explained. "Honestly, don't worry about it. I just wanted you to know why she acts the way she does. She's not worth your time."

Buffy kept her eyes on Rena. She kept on trying to talk to Angel, who wasn't really paying attention to her. This, Buffy liked. What she saw next, though, she did not.

Rena began to run her fingers down Angel's arm, and tried to whisper something in his ear.

Angel moved away from her and told her to back off.

Buffy left the table and made her way towards Rena and Angel.

Rena kept moving closer, trying to touch him, and Angel kept pushing her away. "Take a hint," he said, annoyed with Rena. "I'm not interested."

This girl was pissing Buffy off beyond belief. Talking badly about Willow, and now trying to make the moves on Angel when she knew full well that he was with Buffy.

Buffy got over to Angel and Rena, and grabbed Rena's arm away from Angel. "He told you to back off... Didn't your mother teach you not to touch what isn't yours?" Buffy said icily.

"Why exactly isn't he mine?" Rena taunted.

"Because he's mine," Buffy shot back.

Angel was laughing on the inside, he knew he shouldn't be, but it was okay. He couldn't stand that stupid Rena chick. But he was getting a kick out of Buffy's jealousy.

Buffy was ready to knock the bitch out, she was taunting her on purpose, she wanted Buffy to hit her. And Buffy really did want to kick her around a bit, but she pushed that urge aside as a new round of cramps and pain washed over her.

"Stay the hell away from him, and keep your damn hands to yourself," Buffy warned Rena, as she tried to hide the pain she was in, walking out the door.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll break every finger on both of your hands, so that you have nothing left to touch him with."

That seemed to shut Rena up.


	15. Chapter 15

ooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter.

Once outside, she walked quickly, trying to find a tree big enough to sit under without being seen. The pain was just about unbearable, and she felt like she could hardly stand. She sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to concentrate the pain to one small part.

She couldn't stand the pain, for the obvious reason that it was painful, but also because she didn't know why she was feeling like this.

She needed to know what was going on. She needed answers, and she wanted to ask Giles, but she didn't really feel that comfortable.

Angel had followed Buffy outside, wanting to see if she was alright, but stopped in his tracks when he heard Buffy begin to speak to someone. She must be on the phone. He didn't want to interrupt.

Buffy had decided to call her sister. She needed to talk to someone.

"Buffy?"

"Hey Dawnie. How are you?" Buffy said, trying to sound calm.

"I'm doing okay. I miss you. How are you?" Dawn asked in return.

"I'm kind of horrible, actually," Buffy admitted.

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked worriedly.

"I don't know, and that's half the problem right there."

"Tell me what's up."

"Dawnie, I'm no stranger to pain. Pain is practically my life. But I'm not used to it coming from myself. I feel like my insides are going to freakin' blow up. It's like my body is turning on me. It's not all the time, it comes and it goes. And my God, these cramps are killer."

"Do you have your period?" Dawn asked.

"If I had my period I wouldn't be flipping out over cramps. I don't have my period, it's late, actually."

"Are you pregnant?" Dawn asked, practically flipping out.

"Don't you dare start on me too, Dawn. That's what the stupid healer/witch doctor woman said. I can't be pregnant, okay?"

Angel's jaw dropped. The healer had told Buffy she was pregnant?

"Seriously, I'm not pregnant. So don't worry about it. Have you read anything? Like maybe- you know, this is some weird thing that happens when your 24th birthday just happens to be tomorrow?" Buffy asked desperately.

"I don't know anything about that, Buffy," Dawn said worriedly.

"Whatever, I just needed to tell somebody. It's kind of driving me crazy. The pain's gone now... So how's everything going over there? How's the research on the upcoming Apocalypse?" Buffy asked, changing the subject, head clearing a bit and finally sensing Angel standing by. She was usually much better than this.

She could always feel him, she supposed she didn't feel his presence earlier because she was so focused on her pain. She wondered what he had heard.

"We're learning some things, nothing earth-shatteringly amazing or extremely helpful, but it's a start. And the Slayers are doing fine. Rona and Kennedy are like drill sergeants. They're toughening them up... So how's everything going, besides your mystery pain? How's everything with Angel?"

"Me and Angel are good," she told Dawn. "Right Angel?" she added, to let Angel know that she knew he was there.

"Right," Angel said, coming into view.

Buffy grinned at Angel, shaking her head.

"Okay Dawnie. I'll try to call you tomorrow. If not, I'll call the day after. Take care of Giles."

"Yeah, yeah," Dawn said. "Love you. Happy Birthday by the way. "

"Love you too. Bye girlie," Buffy said, hanging up.

"So, how much did you hear?" Buffy asked, trying to sound calm, hoping he didn't hear anything about her and the word _pregnant_.

"I wasn't eavesdropping," Angel said, avoiding her question. He didn't want her to know what he'd heard. It was something she obviously didn't want to talk about, and something that she was insisting wasn't possible, so why bring it up? "I just came out to see if you were okay."

"Don't worry about me, really... Did bitch-face stay away from you after I left?" Buffy asked, steering him away from worrying about her.

"Yeah, she stayed far away. I think you scared her just a bit," Angel laughed.

"Well I couldn't have her all over you, now could I?" Buffy said, kissing Angel softly. "I'm just saying this right now, if Rena suddenly changes her mind and wants to come with us, she's not welcome."

"No objections from me. She's horrible," Angel said.

"Good answer," Buffy said, letting out a small yawn.

"You want me to go see if they've got an extra room to sleep in or anything?" Angel asked her. "You're tired."

"No. I actually wouldn't mind just staying out here tonight. It's kinda nice," Buffy answered.

"I'll go let Oz and Shayla know," Angel said, going back inside.

Buffy opened up her bag and pulled out a blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders. She had decided that as soon as she could find a real doctor, she'd go see one. She couldn't stand not knowing what was wrong with her. She was scared beyond belief at not knowing what was wrong with her. When the pain came, it came hard, and she worried that it would return at the worst time. The pain was debilitating at times, causing her to lose control.

What would happen if the pain came in a fight? What would happen if it came back when they were at war, taking her out of the action, rendering her useless, unable to defend Dawn or Giles, or anyone innocent? That was probably the scariest thought. Losing someone because her own body was working against her.

"Will, I miss you so much. I need you now. I don't know what's wrong," Buffy whispered. "My body's turned against me and my emotions are all over the place."

She heard Angel coming back, and pulled her mind away from worrying about herself. She gave him a smile as he sat down next to her. He had this way of making her feel better, taking her worries away, without even really doing anything. And she never felt more grateful for it than right now, because she knew she couldn't make herself stop worrying about her mystery ailment, but Angel could, and he already was, without even knowing it.

"I want to give something back to you," Angel said. "Something I gave to you a bunch of years ago now. Something you had to let go of, to try to move on with your life, after I had wreaked havoc and caused so much pain and suffering in it. You gave it back because I was gone, and it was over. But I'm not gone now, and it's not over. You and me are never over. We never were, not for me, not even when I left you," Angel said.

Tears were welling in Buffy's eyes, she knew what was coming.

"I haven't taken mine off. I've been wearing mine since I gave you yours. And I've kept yours since you took it off. I want you to take it back, but only if _you_ want it back. Honestly, I'd understand if you don't," he said, taking Buffy's Claddagh ring out of his pocket.

Buffy looked up at him with wide eyes, full of tears. "Of course I want it back," she told him. "I've wanted it back since the day I found out _you_ were back."

Angel smiled a relieved smile and put the ring in her hand.

"_I have something for you, for your birthday. I was going to give it to you earlier, but-"_

"_It's beautiful."_

"_My people, before I was changed, exchanged this as a sign of devotion. It's a Claddagh_ _ring. The hands represent friendship. The crown represents loyalty. And the heart, well you_ _know... If you wear it with the heart pointing towards you, it means you belong to_ _somebody. Like this... Put it on."_

And put it on she did, just as she had done all those years ago.

"I love you. I never stopped," Angel said, leaning over, and kissing her lips.

"Love you too. So much," Buffy mumbled in between kisses.

The kisses got more desperate, and before either Buffy or Angel knew it, they were on the ground, quickly losing their clothes. Neither one seemed to care that there was a good chance someone would come outside and catch them rolling around without any clothes.

There was an Apocalypse somewhere around the corner, and there was Buffy's mystery pains, but right now it was only about Angel wanting Buffy. And about Buffy wanting Angel.

Right now, that was the only thing that mattered.

It was almost as if there was no such thing as Angel's curse, but before Angel let get things get too far, he reluctantly backed away, the curse popping into his mind.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "We're not gonna have a repeat of Sunnydale. I just need to control myself."

"It's not like you were the only one losing control there, Angel," Buffy sighed, putting her shirt back on, as Angel did the same.

"I think we should probably get some _real_ sleep," Buffy said quietly.

Both of them had all of their clothes back on now.

Angel nodded at her.

Buffy let out a little laugh.

Angel patted the spot beside him, signalling Buffy to join him, which she did.

He handed her a blanket and she wrapped it around herself, before resting her head on Angel's shoulder.

Angel looked down at her and she looked back at him. There was longing in their eyes, but they both knewthey couldn't give in to the longing.

After a few minutes, they were more in control. Just being there together was enough. After all that had happened,

Buffy and Angel knew that just leaning on each other was a gift. And they would be grateful for that gift.

Buffy took Angel's hand and he kissed her softly on the forehead.

Buffy smiled and drifted off to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

oooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy!

Buffy's birthday had came and went the day before. Angel and Oz had told the rest of the pack about it, and they had thrown a little party for her.

Today was a new day, the day she and Angel, along with Oz and Shayla were heading to England. They were already on a plane. It wouldn't be long until they got there, apparently just a few more minutes.

The rest of the pack, with the exception of Rena, would join Oz, Shayla, Buffy, and Angel in Rome in a few months.

England was where a coven of witches that Willow knew was located, and that's also where Spike was. She was pretty sure that the witches would help once Buffy explained the situation to them. Buffy wasn't terribly enthusiastic about asking Spike for help, though, it was going to be really weird. But she knew that he wouldn't say no. He would help her if she asked.

"So who exactly are we going to see first? Spike or the witches?" Oz asked.

"I guess we'll find Spike ," Buffy said, figuring that she might as well get the hard part out of the way first.

It came and went faster than Buffy could blink, but she swore she saw a frown cross Angel's face.

Spike was probably still a sore subject. Buffy and Angel had never really talked about him, Buffy didn't think either of them really wanted to.

"So, Oz told me that your Watcher is really smart," Shayla said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, Giles is pretty much a genius. If there's any useful information on the upcoming Apocalypse, Giles and my sister will find it," Buffy told her.

The plane had reached the ground, and the passengers began to file off.

When Oz, Shayla, Buffy, and Angel got out of the plane, Shayla let out a small shriek.

"Angel," she shrieked.

"What?" he asked worriedly.

"Get back on the plane," she squealed. "The sun. You're gonna fry."

"Oh, you're so sweet," Buffy said. "Don't worry about Angel. The daylight problem, well let's

just say it's not a problem anymore."

"Whoa, delayed reaction here," Oz said, coming to his senses. "How exactly _are _you not burning up right now?"

"Well the sun's almost down, but really, it's the Gem of Amarra," Angel said.

"Uhhh, you destroyed that, remember?" Oz said.

"Well, trust me, I don't know how it happened, but that's the gem," Buffy said.

"Uhh, what's the Gem of Amarra, and how did you find it?" Shayla asked.

"Basically, it's a vampire's best friend," Oz said. "They can walk in the daylight, and they can't be killed as long as they're wearing the ring."

"Spike, the guy we're going to find, back when he was bad, found the ring, which was pretty much horrible news. I kicked his ass, took the ring from him and sent Oz to L.A. to give it to Angel, the only guy I trusted with the power and freedom that the ring would bring," Buffy told her.

"Why'd you send Oz?" Shayla asked.

"Because things between those two were complicated, Very angsty and dramatic at the time," Oz said, teasing Buffy and Angel.

Angel laughed and Buffy gave a small grin.

"That about sums it up," Buffy admitted, walking into the airport.

They were held up for awhile in the airport, waiting for Shayla's bag. It was too big to bring on the plane so it went with all the other luggage.

After nearly two hours, Shayla finally got her bag, and the four of them got out of the airport, and began walking.

"So how exactly are we going to find Spike?" Oz asked Buffy.

"No need. Spike's found you," a familiar voice said, walking out from behind a rather large tree.

It was Spike.

"Spike," Buffy said, shocked to see him. "Hi."

"Hello back," Spike said, smiling.

"Hey man," Oz said.

Spike nodded at him, and turned to Shayla. "And who are you?" he asked.

"Shayla," she answered.

"Nice to meet you," Spike said.

"You too," she answered.

"How'd you know where to find us?" Angel asked.

"Good to see you too, Angel," Spike said sarcastically. "Dawn told me you were coming, said you'd be at the airport around this time."

"You talked to Dawn?" Buffy asked.

"I left a phone number with Willow when she flew me over here almost a month ago, I told her to give it to Dawn, just in case something happened, you know if anyone needed any kind of help."

"That was nice. Thanks," Buffy said.

"I already found the witch coven for you guys by the way. Dawn told me all about it. I talked to them a bit for you. But I didn't say much, I didn't want to intrude on your thing," Spike said to Buffy.

"I take it you're going to help us then," Buffy said.

"Yeah, I'm gonna help."

"That's good. We can use all the help we can get," Buffy said with an uneasy smile.

She felt so awkward standing there in between Angel and Spike, and she wanted to move. So she did. She walked over to Shayla, grabbed her arm, and walked ahead with her, leaving the guys far behind.

"Are we going somewhere?" Shayla asked.

"Just away from them," Buffy said. "Awkward much."

Shayla grinned. "Let me guess, you had a thing with Spike?"

"Yeah. But that's _way_ over. It's just weird being in the middle of them, that's all," Buffy said, beginning to feel extremely agitated.

"You're heading the wrong way Slayer," Spike called out.

"Exactly what way are we supposed to be headed?" Buffy called out.

"To your right. It's past the park."

"Mmm hmm," Buffy mumbled.

Buffy walked ahead with Shayla, eager to get to the witches.

They walked ahead for about five minutes in a comfortable quiet, until Oz yelled for Buffy.

"Buffy get over here now."

Buffy turned around, annoyed, and became even more annoyed by what she saw.

"Oh come on," Buffy yelled, running towards Spike and Angel, who were now pummelling each other.

"Break it up. NOW" she screamed.

They were still going at it so Buffy asserted her Slayer strength, getting in between the two of them, sending both of them flying in opposite directions.

Shayla watched with wide eyes. "Damn, she's strong," she muttered to Oz.

"Oh, I know," he answered back.

"You know, the world is possibly ending in the coming months, I don't need to deal with whatever crap is going on between you two. You two managed to work together in L.A. without killing each other, remember how you did that, forget that I'm here, and find a way to get along."

"He started it," Spike said.

"Oh shut up," Angel muttered.

"I don't give a crap who started it. Just stay the hell away from each other, and keep your mouths shut," Buffy said, grabbing at her stomach. Buffy was starting to get that familiar pain again, and her mood was getting increasingly bad.

"What the hell's your problem, Slayer?" Spike shouted back.

"Shut up," Angel told him.

"You, just keep your mouth shut with me, Peaches," Spike said to Angel. "No seriously, what the hell is up with your bitchiness?" he said, turning back to Buffy.

Buffy was starting to feel dizzy, the stress was making everything way worse.

"Shut the hell up," Angel said, shoving Spike now. "She's in pain dumbass. Leave her alone."

Spike was about to lunge at Angel but stopped when he saw Buffy reach out to balance herself, finding nothing to hold onto.

Buffy began to fall, but Oz got to her in time, so she didn't hit the ground.

Angel and Spike ran over to her.

"You okay?" Angel asked her.

"...I'm sorry if I did anything to contribute to that," Spike said worriedly, referring to Buffy's

near collapse.

"I'm fine... Thank you," Buffy said, rubbing her head. The pain was going away now.

Buffy knew that she really should see a doctor or have someone check her out. Things were not normal with her anymore. But at this point she didn't want to see a doctor. She had this bad feeling that nothing good would be found out from a doctor. So yes, Buffy would admit it, but only to herself; she was afraid to find out what was wrong with her.

She had a feeling that it was bad and she if it was, she'd prefer to be oblivious. She was chickening out, she knew, but she didn't want bad news. And she didn't want the others to be worrying about whatever her condition would turn out to be, especially Angel. She was gonna enjoy her time with him, not add more worries to her own and Angel's plate. The world might be ending anyway. Who cared what was wrong with her? Whatever was wrong with her hadn't interfered in fighting as of yet, so she was holding onto the hope that it wouldn't do it later, either.

"Can I just talk to you for a minute, Buffy?" Spike asked. "Alone?"

"Umm okay," Buffy said. "Do you guys want to head over without us? We'll meet you in a few minutes," Buffy said to Angel, Oz, and Shayla.

"I think I know the way from here. I've been here with Willow I few times," Oz said, walking ahead with Shayla.

"I'll be there in a couple minutes," Buffy told Angel.

"Okay," Angel said uneasily, walking away.

"Okay Spike. It's just you and me. What did you wanna say?"

Angel didn't walk very far, Spike and Buffy didn't notice, so he just stayed behind the tree.

He knew he was eavesdropping, but he had to hear the conversation.

"Why didn't you try to find a way to let me know that Willow, Xander, and Faith died?" Spike asked.

"Oh," Buffy said. "I'm sorry, but I didn't remember you at the time," she said honestly, trying to be kind.

"Dawn called me a few days after it happened. That's how I found out."

"I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you. But I was still in my own zone of depression. They died. Gone from my life within seconds. I wasn't thinking about too many other people besides them and me. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay," Spike said. "So you and Angel, eh?" Spike said, trying to be casual.

Buffy let out a small laugh. "Yeah. Me and Angel," she said.

"You told me you loved me," Spike said.

"Why are you even bringing this up?" Buffy asked him. "I'm with Angel."

"We had something, you and me. You know I loved you from the beginning," he said.

Buffy was getting annoyed with Spike's mushiness.

"Are you mental? You loved me from the beginning? _Angel _loved me from the beginning. _You _ tried to kill me from the beginning," she said.

"But we had something. You came back from the dead and we had a connection. Maybe you didn't love me then, but you did at some point." he insisted.

"Spike, what we had was disgusting for the most part. I didn't love you. I felt _nothing_ being back here on this Earth. I _used_ you to feel something. And you used me too. You were obsessed with me, and I was desperate to feel. We had a bunch of dirty sex, and that was pretty much it. Did you also forget about trying to rape me? I told you before that, but after that happened, there was absolutely no way I could ever love you, not the way you wanted, even after you went out to fight for a soul."

Angel's eyes widened, and his fists clenched with rage. _Spike had tried to rape Buffy._

"But you cared, maybe not when I- I'm _so _sorry, or before that, but after I came back, you did care. I got my soul and you cared. I know you did."

"Yeah Spike. I did grow to care. You ended up doing a lot of good. You helped a lot, took care of the people I love. And you were there for me. I did grow to care. And when I told you I loved you, I did mean it, but not romantically, Spike. I can't love you like that. I'm sorry. Whatever we had is long over. It will never be anything but over. You were there in my time of darkness, but I've stepped back into the light.

"You really need to let this go. We can really use your help with all the impending doom, and I'm happy to see that you're doing okay, but if you don't back off, I'm going to make sure that you don't see me at all anymore, okay?" Buffy said, trying to be kind but firm also, giving his hand a small squeeze.

"Ouch Slayer. You know how to bring a guy down," Spike sighed. "And it had to be Angel."

"Oh come on Spike. Don't act so surprised. You've known all along that it's always been Angel in my heart. You've always known how much I love him. Hell, _you _ were the one who told me and Angel that we'd love each other till it killed us."

"_The last time I looked in on you two, you were fighting to the death. Now you're back to_ _making googly-eyes at each other like nothing happened. Makes me want to heave."_

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_Oh yeah, you're just friends."_

"_That's right."_

"_You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it kills you both. You'll fight_ _and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be_ _friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood- blood screaming inside you to work its will. I_ _may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."_

"You need to accept that I'm with Angel... Seeing you again, it's nice. Can't you just leave it at that, Spike? We can be friends, if you just let us be friends... "

Angel had heard all he needed to hear. Buffy didn't want Spike. All was good, so Angel hurried ahead to meet up with Oz and Shayla.

"Seeing you again, it's nice too," Spike admitted. "Friends is never what I wanted with you, but if that's all you'll give me, that's what I'll take," Spike said.

"Good," Buffy said, smiling at him. "Now let's go meet some witches."


	17. Chapter 17

ooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter.

Buffy and Spike arrived at the place the coven called home. Oz, Shayla, and Angel were already in discussion with the witches.

"Hi everyone," Buffy said.

"You must be Buffy," a pretty red-head said.

"That's me. You must be Cheyenne," Buffy answered.

"Yes I am. You're friends have told me about what's going on."

"So you know that we're going to be in for some major world trouble, then?" Buffy said.

"Yeah, and we'll be happy to help however we can."

"That's great to hear. We can use all the help we can get."

"We're going to have to leave the research part to you all, though, because we have other commitments that are going to take up the next few months. You tell us what you learn and we'll meet up with you in Rome in the future months. We can work on some spells and potions when we know more... Now I don't mean to be rude, but I think you guys should probably get going. There's a group of idiot witches with a grudge against us, and they've been attacking every now and then. It's probably a good idea for you to get going and not be around when it happens again."

"I can do some ass kicking for you, if you're worried," Buffy offered.

Cheyenne smiled. "They're no threat to us, just mainly an annoyance. But an annoyance that needs a lot of our attention."

"I get it. Thanks for agreeing to help. We'll keep in touch, and we'll get out of your hair for now," Buffy said with a smile.

"Really, it was nice to see you all, and I look forward to seeing you again," Cheyenne said kindly, dismissing the group.

"That was a short visit," Shayla commented, as she, Oz, Spike, Buffy and Angel left.

"Yeah, but we got what we needed," Buffy said.

"So, does this mean you're heading back to Rome now?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, we saw you and the witches so we don't really need to hang around much longer," Buffy said.

"I guess I'll be seeing you lot in a few months," Spike said quietly. Buffy began to feel a little guilty. "You're welcome to come back with us now if you want. If you're in a research mood," she offered.

"I think I'll pass. I've never been much of a research guy. I'll see you all soon enough,"

Spike said, giving a little wave, walking off.

Buffy let out a sigh of relief, she really wasn't in the mood for the tenseness that would surely be in the air if both Angel and Spike were in the same group for too long.

"We've spent more time in the airport than we actually have _here_," Oz said.

"It almost feels like a waste of plane tickets, I know, but I'm happy to be getting out of here. I kinda miss my little sis and Giles," Buffy said.

"Back to the airport then?" Angel said.

"I guess so," Buffy said.

Oz and Shayla walked ahead while Angel and Buffy walked a bit slower.

"Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

"You'd tell me if there was something wrong with you, right?" Angel asked.

Buffy tried to smile at him. "I know I keep saying this, but seriously, don't worry about me."

"It's hard not to. You're scaring me a bit," Angel told her.

"Honestly, I think it's just been the traveling, you know? I don't think Peru agreed with me, and the thing before, it probably had something to do with being on the plane before that," she said, trying to sound convincing.

"I hope that's all it is," Angel said.

"Don't be so serious, Angel. Everything is fine. All fine," she said, grabbing hold of his hand.

"By the way, have I mentioned that you look _really good_ in the sun?" she flirted.

"Maybe once or twice," Angel laughed. "Speaking of sunlight. You're a liar, Buffy Summers," Angel said, kissing her hand.

"Excuse me?"

"I remember you told me, over seven years ago, now, that you didn't look that great in direct sunlight. And that, Buffy, is a very, very big lie."

"Well if a girl's gotta be called a liar, that's definitely the way to say it," she grinned.

"Speaking of saying things, tell me honestly, what happened with Spike? Did you really start it?" she asked.

"Are you asking me if I threw the first punch? If you are, then yeah, I did. But he started it by opening his big mouth. He was saying a whole lot of things that I didn't need or want to hear. And he kept rubbing it on purpose."

"What did he say to you?"

"Like I said, stuff I didn't want to hear," Angel said again.

"But what? What could he say that would piss you off to the point of punching him out?"

Angel just looked at her.

"Oh," Buffy said, figuring it out. "He was running his mouth about me and him?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Sorry," Buffy said.

"It's not your fault he opened his mouth," Angel said.

"He should have kept his mouth shut," Buffy said. "I didn't really tell you about me and Spike when you came to Sunnydale to help out in the Apocalypse. But there's a lot that you don't know. Mostly because I didn't tell you. And I didn't send you away so I could be with Spike that night-" Buffy was mumbling a whole lot of nothing.

"You don't owe me an explanation," Angel said.

"I know I don't, but I feel like I do...I don't love him."

"I know you don't. So let's just drop it. I don't really want to spend the night talking about Spike, do you?"

"No, I really don't," Buffy answered.

"Okay. End of Spike discussion, then?"

"Definitely," Buffy agreed.

"So, did Dawn say anything about the research? Did they find anything good?" Angel asked.

"The last she told me about that, they had found some stuff, nothing that great though. But we'll find something. We've got to."

"Well, even if we don't. We'll fight till the end, right?"

"That's what we do," Buffy said. "I just really hope it's not the end."

"If it is, at least we'll go down together, right?" Angel said with a smile.

"You and me. That's a good way to go," Buffy replied. "But let's not plan our deaths yet. We've got some more time together, let's enjoy it."

"I'm with you. I _am _enjoying it," Angel said, kissing Buffy.

"Oh come on you two. You can make out in Rome. Let's get to the airport now." Shayla yelled teasingly.

"You heard her. We'll make out in Rome," Buffy laughed, dragging Angel to catch up with Oz and Shayla.


	18. Chapter 18

oooooooo Here's the new chapter.

It was nearly noon the next day when Buffy, Angel, Oz, and Shayla arrived in Rome.

Dawn and Giles were waiting at the entrance door of the Fortress for them.

"Thank God, actual people," Dawn said, running at Buffy. "Giles has been driving me crazy. He sounds like the books I've been reading for a month now," she said, hugging her sister.

"I missed you too, Dawnie," Buffy laughed, hugging her back.

Dawn let go and remembered there were others there also and proceeded to hug Angel, then Oz, and even Shayla.

"Hi," Shayla said, laughing, returning Dawn's hug.

"Sorry," Dawn said. "I know we've never met before, but I kinda feel like I know you. And I'm just really, really happy for some new company."

Giles rolled his eyes. "An air for the dramatic must run in your family," Giles said, looking from Buffy to Dawn.

Buffy let out a laugh.

They all got the introductions and greetings out of the way, and went directly into the research.

Giles and Dawn had so many different books spread out in the library, it was unbelievable. And there were plenty more on the shelves.

Oz, Shayla, Buffy, and Angel each grabbed a book, sat down, and began to look for anything useful.

Buffy was apparently annoying Giles somehow because after about an hour he banished her from the library.

"You should go see your Slayers, Buffy," Giles said. "You never were one for research."

Oz and Angel laughed a little bit. It was true, Buffy wasn't the greatest at research, mostly because she couldn't sit still for very long.

"Fine," Buffy mumbled, walking out of the room. "I'll go kick some ass with the girls. It'll accomplish more than this research anyway," Buffy said, sticking her tongue out at Giles.

"Twenty-four still seems a whole lot like sixteen, Buffy," Giles said, doing some teasing of his own, basically telling Buffy she was acting like her sixteen year old self.

"Bye-bye," Buffy said, heading for the gym.

While all of that teasing was in good fun, it was true. Buffy sucked with research, and she did feel a bit useless. Willow and Xander were way better at it than she was. Xander complained all the way through, but he was good and Will was just a genius. Why couldn't they be with her now?

"Buffy?" someone called out.

Buffy walked into the gym and saw a bunch of familiar faces.

"Hey ladies," she greeted.

"It's been awhile," Rona said.

"I know. But hey a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to get help in saving the world, right?" Buffy laughed.

"That's true," Kennedy chimed in.

"So, how's it been going over here?" Buffy asked the Slayers in training.

"We're tougher now," one girl said.

"I can't wait to kick some demon ass," another said.

"Don't be so eager for that. We're still not sure what we're up against," Buffy said.

"Well, if we all work together what can't we beat with all our strength put together?" a girl named Deya said.

Buffy smiled at the optimism. Buffy turned back to Rona and Kennedy.

"Thanks for taking care of the training while I was gone, I know you had others help with training, but you guys did most of it. I'm back so you guys can take a break for a few days... Go on, get out of here," Buffy said.

"You don't have to tell us twice. We'll see you," Kennedy and Rona said, heading out the gym door.

Buffy actually felt good right now. It was good to be in this gym training slayers, because slaying was her territory. She was good at this. There was nobody better, and she knew it.

"Alright girls, show me what you've got," Buffy said. "Bring it on."

Buffy spent nearly five hours going at it with the girls. They really were getting good. She was proud.

"So, is anyone crashing here tonight, or are you all heading home?" Buffy asked, after training. The girls had showered and changed into normal clothes.

All of the girls were heading home.

"Okay then, get out of here so I can lock up," Buffy said.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said ushering the girls out.

After Buffy had locked up, she decided to head back to the gym herself. She went to the punching bag and let all of her frustrations out. All of her worries and fears were taken out on the bag.

"Upcoming Apocalypse? Take that!" she punched

"Whatever the hell is wrong with me. Take this!" she kicked.

Buffy was finally getting angry. It was okay in here. There was nobody to see how scared she was. She wanted to destroy something right now.

Buffy decided to test out Willow's enchanted stake. It was still in her bag upstairs, but she decided to call for it.

"Stake," Buffy called out.

Before Buffy could blink her eye, she had the stake in her hand.

"Wicked," she said, as she threw the stake at a target twenty feet ahead, the stake landing straight in the 'heart.'

"Stake," she called again. And it came right back to her.

Buffy's frustrations were all coming out now, through her aggression, and through the tears that were slowly falling from her eyes. She laughed, even though she was crying when the stake returned to her.

She threw the stake again, this time at a different target, happy with the result. Right into the heart, again.

Buffy left the stake where it was, and moved herself onto the balance beam. She got on and steadied herself, standing just on her hands, concentrating hard. She hadn't done this in awhile now.

Buffy needed to immerse herself in everything Slayer, because besides how she felt about her friends, sister, and Angel, Slayer was the only thing she was sure of at this point. She hadn't thought too much about what was coming up, the new evil that was ahead, mostly, she had avoided it, even though she was off getting help to fight it. Now everything was coming to her. She couldn't avoid it anymore.

"It's not fair," were the words running through Buffy's head, while she kept herself balanced on the beam.

Buffy wasn't keeping track of the time, but she knew she had been standing on her hands for quite awhile. She was starting to feel it in her arms and even in the rest of her body, which was simply up in the air.

She decided that she had done enough on the balance beam, and decided to come down.

She was taken aback, as she noticed Angel sitting in the corner.

"How long have you been there?" she asked him.

"Since you started wailing on the punching bag," he admitted.

Buffy looked over at the clock. He'd been there for about an hour.

"Oh," was all she could say.

This meant that he'd seen her cry. This meant he'd heard her going on about what was wrong with her.

"So, you're worried about yourself too," Angel said "It's not just me."

"A girl's allowed to break down a bit. You know, I'm allowed to overreact sometimes, and that's all that was. So really, please don't worry about me," Buffy told him.

"How am I supposed to not worry about you, when you're scared, yourself? And don't tell me you were just overreacting. We both know that's not true. Just tell me what's up, please," Angel told her.

Buffy's walls were breaking down. She was going to talk. She was really emotional lately.

"I _don't know_ what's wrong with me, Angel. Yeah, I'm worried. But I keep my mouth shut because I don't want _you _ to worry about me, okay? I don't want to waste time thinking about this. There are more important things than whatever is wrong with me. I don't want you to worry, _please_," she told him, voice beginning to quiver.

"I don't want to see concern in your eyes every time you look at me. I can't take that, not now. We already have other things to be concerned about. The Apocalypse is coming, who knows when, that's more than enough to be worried about. I don't know if we're all gonna live through it or not. So in the grand scheme of things, whatever's wrong with me doesn't matter... I'm the Slayer, I'll deal. I don't know how long any of us have left here. I don't know how much time you and me have together. I've been without you for too long, okay? So I'm gonna make the most of this. You're with me now, and all I want is just for you to love me. That's all I want from you, Angel," Buffy said, closing her eyes.

"You've got my love a million times over, Buffy," he said, taking her hand, and bringing her to the corner, to sit next to him. "You know that."

"Yeah, I do," she said.

"And you know it's not possible for me _not_ to worry. Anybody who loves you would be worried. You need to let somebody check you out. They might be able to tell you what's going on."

"I don't want that," Buffy said.

"And why is that?"

"Because... It could be bad, and I don't think I want to know how bad it is. Because I don't want to worry even more."

"But what if it's not bad? What if it's something that can be fixed?" Angel asked.

"Can we just stop talking about this? I'm not in the mood," Buffy said, beginning to get up.

Angel caught her hand as she was about to get up.

"Fine, we'll stop talking about it. But you have to make me one promise."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Go to a doctor or a healer, whatever you want, and just find out for yourself what's up with your body. I won't ask you anything. If you want to tell me, I want to know. But I won't push it, if you really don't want me to know. I just want you to find out what's up. Do that for yourself, and I won't ask anything else of you. Okay?"

Buffy paused, staring at him, thinking for a minute.

"Okay," she said.

"Good," Angel said. "Here," he said, passing her a plate.

"You brought me supper," Buffy said, smiling a bit.

"Yeah, sorry it's a bit cold now. But I didn't want to interrupt you before."

"Thanks," Buffy told him, digging into the food. "Did have you have anything?" she asked him, in between mouthfuls. "I've got a few jars left in my bag."

"I'm good for now," Angel said. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away," Buffy said.

"If we all make it through whatever's gonna come, I want you to come with me somewhere, just for awhile, if you're up for it."

"Where?" Buffy asked excitedly.

"Ireland," he said.

"Yes," Buffy answered. "It's a date... You, me and Ireland, as long as we're alive to go," Buffy smiled.

"Okay, we have to make sure we win this war," Angel joked.

Buffy laughed a little.

"Angel," someone called out.

"In here," he answered.

Shayla walked into the gym. "This place is so big."

"Hey."

"Giles sent me to get you, Angel. He said he needed you to look at something, thought you could help him."

"Giles calls, you better run," Buffy told Angel.

"I'll be back," he said, getting up and leaving.

"Okay Buffy, it's just you and me. Let me find out what's wrong with you."

"Excuse me?" Buffy said.

"I saw what happened back in England, the same thing happened to you in Peru. I know that's not normal for you, I could tell by the look on your face... So why don't you let me tell you what's going on," Shayla said.

Buffy hesitated for a minute, but decided to let Shayla take a look. She'd promised Angel she'd get someone to check her out.

"What the hell," Buffy said. "Check me out."


	19. Chapter 19

ooooooooooooooooooo Here's my new chapter. Review and enjoy.

"Just so you know, I'm not trying to feel you up," Shayla joked, before lifting up Buffy's shirt.

Buffy laughed. "Good to know. Thanks."

Shayla rested her hand on Buffy's stomach. "This is where the pain is, right?"

Buffy nodded.

"Try not to move too much, okay?" Shayla told her.

Buffy nodded again.

Shayla began to chant something Buffy didn't understand as she ran her hand across Buffy's stomach. She recited the same incantation over and over for about a minute and then stopped, just keeping her hand rested on Buffy's stomach.

Shayla waited another minute and then removed her hand from Buffy's stomach.

"So, what's wrong with me?" Buffy asked nervously.

"Well, you're not sick," Shayla said slowly.

"Okay," Buffy said. "Then what's up?"

"You're pregnant."

"Not again," Buffy mumbled.

"You've been pregnant before?" Shayla asked, shocked.

"No," Buffy said. "It's just that the healer back in Peru told me the same thing. And you're both wrong. I can't be pregnant. I'm just not," Buffy told her.

"You know when I told you that healing and magic related to the body was kinda my thing, I was putting it lightly. I was being modest. This is my area of expertise. I've practiced in this area like nobody's business... I'm telling you, sweetie, you're pregnant. I wouldn't tell you that unless I was sure. I wouldn't lie to you," Shayla said gently.

Buffy knew what Shayla was saying was true. Shayla wouldn't lie to her. But this didn't make any sense. Buffy felt like her head was going to explode.

"Uh, would you mind just giving me some time alone, please? Maybe you could just go back upstairs and hang with the rest of them. Just don't tell them anything," Buffy said quietly.

"Buffy-" Shayla started.

"Please?" Buffy said again, heading for the change room.

She walked inside and closed the door behind her. Buffy's heart was beating so fast, she thought it would shoot out of her chest.

"How the hell is this possible?" she said to herself.

She felt like she was going to throw up, and less than a minute later, she did.

Buffy couldn't do this, it couldn't be happening. She began to hyperventilate. She literally couldn't be pregnant.

"Calm down," she told herself, trying to breathe.

She couldn't calm down, and her breathing wasn't getting any slower. Now, she even felt like her clothes were sticking to her skin.

She began to rip at her clothes, tearing her shirt off of her, then did the same with her pants and undergarments.

It was getting so hot, and she felt like she was burning. Buffy practically ran into the shower, turning on the cold water, letting it pour all over her.

She finally began to cool down, and her breathing slowed down to a more normal pace.

The cold water was beginning to help clear her head a bit. Buffy leaned her head back against the wall and tried to think.

If her life was normal and Angel wasn't a vampire, this whole being pregnant thing might make some sense and not be the scariest thing in the world. But her life _wasn't _normal, and Angel _was_ a vampire.

How could she be pregnant? A baby with Angel wasn't possible, so how the hell was a baby growing inside of her? The last guy she was with was Spike. First of all that was about two years ago, now, and secondly, Spike was a vampire, too. Before him was Parker and Riley and that was even more years back. It wasn't possible to have a freakin' delayed pregnancy.

So what was going on? Nothing made sense. But she knew it, she could feel it. Buffy knew she was pregnant. Oh God, what if it was some freaky demon pregnancy thing? ...But it couldn't be that either.

_Please, don't let it be that. I'm in pain, but I don't feel evil inside._

This baby couldn't be evil. God help her.

All the bad feelings were coming back. Buffy had no energy left, and when the pain arrived, she didn't fight it.

It took over, and Buffy fell to the floor, hitting her head on the way down, getting knocked out cold.

o

"Buffy?" Angel called out, walking back into the gym.

She didn't answer him.

"Buffy," he said again.

Still no answer.

He stopped and listened to the quiet, and heard water running.

"Shower," he said, following the sound.

He opened up the door to the change room.

"Buffy?" he tried once more.

She still didn't answer.

Angel walked into the shower area and found Buffy on the floor, seemingly knocked out, with a small pool of blood next to her head.

"Oh God," he said, falling to his knees next to her, putting her head in his lap.

He pulled off his shirt, and pressed it against her head, where the blood had come from.

"Buffy, I need you to get up, okay? Please," he begged.

She wasn't getting up. Angel picked her up, grabbed a few towels, and brought her back out into the gym, laying her on the mat.

He wrapped one of the towels around her, and put another one against your head.

"I need you to get up now, okay?"

After another minute or two, Buffy finally opened her eyes.

"Angel?" she said quietly.

"Thank God you opened your eyes," Angel said.

Buffy felt at the towel on her head, and took it off, seeing all the blood.

"What the hell?" she said.

"I think you fell and hit your head," Angel told her.

"No kidding," she muttered.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, just a major headache," she told him. "Can you do me a favour? I'm freezing. Can you grab me one of the robes from the change room?"

"Yeah, no problem," Angel said, getting up.

Angel came back with the robe and Buffy got up slowly. He passed the robe to her and she put it on quickly, shivering.

"Shayla told me I should come see you. She said you didn't seem too good. What happened?"

It all came flooding back to Buffy, and she wasn't ready to talk about it.

"No talking," Buffy said, taking a seat on one of the mats. "I'm so tired and my head is pounding. I don't want to think right now. I just need to close my eyes."

Angel just looked at her worriedly.

"It's too complicated, it's too much to say all at once."

"Okay," Angel said, sitting down next to her. "You tell me when you're ready."

Buffy nodded her head. She was going to postpone the inevitable. She couldn't tell him anything yet. She didn't know what to say, she still didn't even know what to think.

"Just close your eyes now," Angel told her.

"Yeah, I can do that," she said. "That, I can do."


	20. Chapter 20

"_Don't cry, Buffy," a soothing voice said._

"_Willow?"_

"_It's me," Willow said, smiling._

"_You came back to me again," Buffy smiled._

"_They let me come, they let us both come, to tell you what's true. To give you answers."_

"_I'm really pregnant?" Buffy asked._

"_You're really pregnant," Willow answered._

"_Yep, Buffy. You're knocked up," Xander said, with a grin, coming into view._

"_How?" Buffy said._

"_Well you know, you had sex, and-" Xander started._

"_Oh shut up, Xander," Willow said._

"_I told you before, Buffy, nothing is impossible anymore," Willow reminded._

"_It's Angel's then?" Buffy said, half-shocked, and half-relieved._

_Willow nodded. "And don't worry. Your baby is _not _bad."_

"_Okay," Buffy said, letting out a sigh of relief... "Okay... Umm, but why am I having a baby? Why is this possible now? Why would these big powers break their own rules?_ _Vampires don't have kids, and now all of the sudden, the big guys decide, hey let's let Angel get Buffy pregnant."_

"_It could be the end of the world," Xander said._

"_Exactly," Buffy said. "Why get the Slayer pregnant when we've got impending doom around the corner. If I'm gonna blimp out to be the size of a balloon, I don't know how_ _much good I'm gonna do fighting in a war, you know."_

"_That's the exact reason _to_ get the Slayer pregnant, minus the part where you become big as a blimp."_

"_Huh?" Buffy said._

"_You're not gonna be a blimp. But that's not the important part. Let's put it like this," Willow said. "We, as your friends knew that you and Angel kind of have this legendary_

_love because we've experienced it with you two. We saw you two every day. We know what you mean to each other. But the big guys know it too. A love as strong as yours_ _is amazing, especially considering the differences between the both of you. He's a vampire and you're the Slayer. Logically, you shouldn't love each other, but you do."_

"_Yeah, I know all about me and Angel," Buffy said. "But what about the baby? Why now?"_

"_You're the Slayer, he's a vampire. The strength and love between the both of you is amazing. Can you imagine what kind of power a baby that both of you made would_ _have. What kind of love this child would know, just because of the blood the runs through their veins. That child would be pretty much indestructible."_

"_Oh that's nice," Buffy said, angrily. "They're using me and Angel to make a weapon, more or less They want to use a baby in a war?"_

"_It's not like that, Buffy," Willow said softly. "Your baby won't be born before the war starts... Your baby will be important in keeping the world safe if you win this war, I_ _won't lie for the Powers, not to you... But your baby is a gift, Buffy. It's something for you and Angel from the Powers. It's kind of like a thank-you from them. And it's extra_ _power for you. The baby is extra power. You'll be even stronger," Willow said._

"_How is it going to make me even stronger when all that's occurring is excruciating pain for the most part?"_

"_Your body is putting up a fight. It's using its natural Slayer defences. You and Angel are supposed to be enemies, so naturally you're not supposed to connect the way you_ _have. Your body is fighting, and your baby is fighting your body but you don't need to fight this... You just need to convince yourself of that," Xander told her._

"_The baby is a bit of you and a bit of Angel, so it has the strength of both of you. You've still got to take care of yourself to take care of the baby, but basically, this baby will_ _be taking care of you, too. You'll have your own strength, and then because of the baby, you'll have the strength Angel has also."_

"_That's a whole lot of strength," Xander commented._

"_So their side of this gift, is me being all Super Woman-like during the war? Help the good guys win this one?" Buffy asked._

"_Basically, yeah," Willow answered._

"_And what about after this war, if we do survive. Are they going to try to make my baby some kind of war machine?"_

"_No," Willow said. "Your baby is yours and Angel's. But when she gets older, just like you, she'll fight for good, it's in her blood..."_

"_She?" Buffy said._

_Willow nodded._

_Buffy smiled a bit, nervously. "But I can't do this. I don't know if I'm ready for this. I don't think I can be someone's mother."_

"_You can, and you will," Willow told her. "You took care of Dawn."_

"_Dawnie wasn't a baby, and Mom is the one who did most of the raising."_

"_You loved Dawn with all you had, Buffy. You protected her. You did what your mom would have done. You're gonna do fine."_

"_Promise?" Buffy asked, scared._

"_Promise," Willow assured._

"_Oh Will, you forgot the part that she's gonna like," Xander said._

"_What am I gonna like?" Buffy asked._

"_You're not gonna blimp out like all other pregnant women."_

_Buffy raised her eyebrow._

_Willow let out a laugh. "The big guys are pulling out all the stops here. They don't want it to be obvious to anyone who's an enemy to know that you're having a baby. It'll_ _only look like you've put on a bit of weight if you stick with baggy clothes. They don't want to risk your baby. If the bad guys know you're pregnant they'll go after the baby_ _first."_

"_But you said that this baby is super strong," Buffy said._

"_She is and she isn't. Major power is in that child, yes, but she's still just a baby. Basically, right now, her power is going to you. So you need to use yours to keep her safe."_

_Buffy nodded her head. "Okay," she said, slowly._

"_They're calling us back," Xander said. "We've got to go."_

"_Please. Stay... I miss you guys," Buffy said._

"_We miss you too," Willow said. "But we can't stay... Buffy, I promise, we'll have our day. We will be together again, if everything goes the way it's supposed to... Take care_ _of my future niece. We'll be seeing each other again."_

_And with that Willow and Xander were gone._

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo_

"_Hey Big Guy."_

"_Faith?"_

"_Yep, it's me, Angel," she said._

"_Are you real?"_

"_I'm still dead, but yeah, this is real... It's good to see you."_

"_It's good to see you too," Angel told her._

"_I've got some news for you. The big Powers sent me, just in case Buffy wasn't ready to tell you," Faith said, trying to remain composed._

"_What is it?"_

"_You knocked B up, Angel," Faith said, forgetting about staying composed._

"_What?" Angel's jaw dropped._

"_You heard me," she said._

"_That's not possible. Vampire, remember?"_

"_Trust me, it's possible now."_

"_Why?" he asked._

"_It's a double sided gift. Something you and B can say came from the both of you, and something that will very likely help you guys win this war, which is something that_ _the Powers want... I've got to leave, they wouldn't let me stay long. You've got to ask Buffy the rest."_

"_But-"_

_Before Angel could finish the sentence, Faith had vanished._

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo_

Buffy and Angel both woke with a start.

They turned to face each other slowly.

"We need to talk," Angel said.

- - Let me know what you think


	21. Chapter 21

ooooooooooooooo Here's another chapter. Review and Enjoy!

"Um, you know what? Actually, we don't need to talk now," Buffy said.

She couldn't tell him right now. She was too nervous.

"I really think we should," Angel said.

"Why?" Buffy asked. "What do you need to say?"

"Probably the same thing as you," Angel told her.

"Oh, I _highly_ doubt that," Buffy said, voice slightly higher than usual, quickly getting up, starting to walk to the door.

"I just saw Faith, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't having a normal dream. She told me something kind of unbelievable. I have this feeling that it's for real, though. It would explain a lot of things. But I need to hear you say it, before I really believe it," Angel said.

Buffy stopped in her tracks. "Oh," was all Buffy could manage at the moment.

Faith told Angel that she was pregnant. He knew.

"Just tell me, please," Angel said.

"Why do you need me to say it? You already know, right? Faith told you," Buffy said, voice shaking, walking away again, just trying to escape the situation.

"So it's true?" Angel asked. "Buffy, stop please. Tell me."

After what seemed like an eternity she stopped, and Buffy finally nodded.

"You're pregnant."

Buffy nodded again, slowly.

"Whoa," Angel said.

"Yeah," Buffy mumbled.

"Are you mad?" Angel asked her.

"Are you?" she asked him, without answering.

"No," he told her.

"You're not?"

"No. Why would I be mad?" he asked her.

"I didn't know if you wanted... Never mind," Buffy said. "I need to go," she said, beginning to leave _again_, this time she started to run .

This was just too much to deal with.

"I think it's amazing, if you want to know the truth," Angel said, running after her, taking her arm and turning her around.

Buffy looked at him hard for a minute. _Was he just saying that to try to make me feel better? Does he really think it's amazing?_

"For real?" she asked him finally.

"Yes, for real," he told her.

"You don't have to say that, if you don't mean it. It's okay if you're not thrilled. I'll be fine, you know... umm, if it's not what you want. I can just do the whole baby thing on my own," Buffy said, her voice so shaky, that she didn't even know if her words sounded like words at the moment.

She was scared. Scared first of all, of being pregnant. Second, of Angel not wanting this situation. And third, she was so scared for the day when the baby would actually be born. Despite what she just said, she really didn't know if she could do it alone.

"You're not gonna do it alone. I'm here, and I'm happy. I promise," he told her gently.

"That's good to hear," Buffy said, feeling a little bit more relaxed.

"Oh God," Buffy suddenly shouted, clutching at her stomach. This hurt more than usual.

Angel made a move but Buffy held her hand up to keep him away for a minute. Buffy bit her lip as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

'_Stop fighting. Stop fighting. Stop fighting,' she thought. 'The baby is supposed to be there,' Buffy told her body. 'She's good. Don't fight her.'_

Buffy repeated this mantra over and over in her head for over nearly two minutes until the pain finally went away.

"Better," Buffy said.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine as long as the war inside of my body doesn't start up again," she told him weirdly.

"War inside your body?" he asked.

"Umm, basically my body is kind of fighting this. Me Slayer, you vampire, you know? And my body isn't the only thing fighting, the baby's doing the same thing. Hence the war inside my body."

"I'm sorry," Angel told her.

Buffy actually laughed a bit.

"Are you okay with all this?" Angel asked her seriously.

Buffy swallowed. "It's still kind of just sinking in, and I'm scared, I won't lie," she told Angel.

"I get that," Angel said.

Buffy and Angel were quiet for a good half hour after that, both lost in their own thoughts, just trying to make sense of things, of their own feelings.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you and me are actually gonna have a baby..." Buffy finally said. "I mean, all I've ever known is that that was never a possibility. Now, it's reality. I wasn't ready for this, Angel, not right now. I'm the Slayer," she told him.

Angel nodded, but there was something else in his eyes. _Like sadness, maybe? _Buffy thought. _I'm not trying to make him feel bad. I don't think I said it right_. _He needs_ _to know exactly what I mean._

"With that being said, this baby is yours and mine. It's us. We're creating something here, it's scary, but it's beautiful too...I wasn't ready for this, but it's happening, and I'm still kind of flipping out, but I'm glad it's with you, Angel."

Angel smiled at her.

"I'm so used to protecting everyone, you know? I've always protected myself too, but now I've got to protect myself, to protect the baby. And that's gonna be an adjustment. I don't think I'm ready to be someone's mom."

"I've got your back. This baby is mine too. You know you're not in this alone. It's you and me in this. Don't ever forget that," Angel told her.

It was Buffy's turn to smile. "I don't think you need to worry too much. Trust me, not too many things are going to want to mess with me or this baby. Not that they're gonna know about the baby anyway." Buffy said.

Angel looked a bit confused. "How is anyone _not_ going to know?" he asked her.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you don't know. Apparently I'm not gonna get too big. They said if I stick with baggy clothes it'll only look like I've put on a bit of weight," she told him.

"You must be liking that," Angel laughed.

"Yes, I definitely like that," Buffy admitted. "I'm glad I don't have to sport a balloon belly. I think that would have been a bit of an inconvenience trying to Slay with the Apocalypse around the corner."

"Are you gonna be okay to Slay? Isn't that still dangerous for you and the baby?" Angel asked.

"No, actually. I'm apparently gonna be stronger than ever because I'm pregnant," Buffy told him.

"What?" Angel asked.

"The baby is half of you and half of me, meaning that there's a whole lot of strength in this child. She's already got my strength, and she's got yours too, and since I'm carrying her, your strength is transferred to me. I just have to make sure they stay away from my stomach, because while the baby is strong, she's still just a baby. I still have to take care of her."

"Her?" Angel asked.

"That's what Willow and Xander said," Buffy said, smiling a bit, biting her lip.

"Whoa."

"Is that a good whoa, or a bad one?" Buffy teased.

"It's a good one," Angel assured her. "She's gonna be beautiful."

"Well come on, how could she be anything but beautiful? She's got some hot parents," Buffy laughed.

She was feeling better about the situation now, starting to feel more calm.

"I can't believe we're actually having this conversation. I kind of feel like this is some illusion," Buffy said.

"I know what you mean," Angel said.

Both were quiet for another few minutes until Buffy finally asked, "So what did you guys find out yesterday when I was banished down here for lack of research skill?" Buffy asked, changing the subject, still feeling a bit weird, despite calming down.

Angel knew that things were still a bit awkward, so he jumped right into Buffy's new subject. He wasn't going to make her keep talking about the whole baby thing if she wasn't totally ready for more conversation. "Well, basically what we know for sure is that the big war is gonna happen when the moon is full, so the werewolves are gonna be able to help for sure," he told her.

"We kind of already knew that," Buffy said.

"No, we _thought _ that, but now we _know _ for sure," Angel told her.

"Is that all?" Buffy asked.

"We're pretty sure it's gonna start right here, since the Fortress was so close to where- you know."

"Where Faith and my best friends were killed," Buffy said sadly.

"Yeah," Angel said quietly.

"Good," Buffy said. "Let it be here. Let them come. We'll be prepared. Let them come and we'll kill every last one of them. I'll do it with a smile on my face. They're gonna pay for Willow, Xander, and Faith. They're gonna pay hard. They're gonna learn that you don't screw with the Slayer's people," Buffy bursted.

"I knew that was still all in there," Angel said.

"I've kind of been holding a bit in," Buffy sighed. "I've been feeling stretched out to my limits. Sometimes I feel like my strength is just running out," she admitted. "But I know that's not true. I'm still strong. I just needed to remind myself."

"You're more than strong Buffy. You're amazing. I don't think there's another word for it. You've been through so much and you're still here. Now you find out that you're pregnant, and I _know _ you're more scared than you're letting on, but look at you, you're still strong and you're still fighting. You're gonna be fine. And if you ever need to let anything out, just vent. Yell, scream, do whatever you need to do," Angel told her.

"Just remember your words when I'm yelling and screaming at you," Buffy laughed.

"Speaking of yelling and screaming, you need to remember not to do that to your sister," Angel said.

"Why would I yell and scream at her?" Buffy asked, getting worried. "What did she do?"

"Nothing bad," Angel assured her. "I just think she's been getting in too deep too fast with the magic."

"What happened?" Buffy repeated.

"She just kind of passed out for awhile yesterday, that's all. She was trying to get all the information she could possibly get in the least amount of time, that, and I know she's been practicing a lot. I think the magic is too much for her right now."

"_That's all?"_ Buffy said angrily. "My sister passes out and none of you, _especially_ you, don't think to come and tell me?"

"She didn't want us to tell you, and Shayla made sure she was okay," Angel said.

"I don't care. If she passes out, I'm supposed to know, right away. I don't care how old she is, Dawn is still my baby sister... I need to talk to her about this magic stuff."

"I know, and that's why I told you, even though she didn't want us to," Angel told her calmly. "But you need to stay calm. Don't be mad at her. She's really just trying to help. She wants to get stronger."

"No, apparently what she wants is to give her sister a heart-attack," Buffy said. "I need to go find Dawnie. It's time for a sister talk," Buffy said, getting up.

"Be nice," Angel told her.

"Yeah, yeah," Buffy replied, heading out the door.


	22. Chapter 22

ooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review it and enjoy!

"Dawnie, get up," Buffy said, gently shaking her sister awake.

"No," Dawn mumbled. "I want to sleep."

"You can sleep later. You and me have some things to talk about... And I've got some news for you," Buffy told her.

"You're gonna give me some kind of lecture aren't you?" Dawn asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Buffy gave her a look.

"This is about yesterday, isn't it? One of them opened their mouths and told you I passed out, right? Don't worry about it, it was nothing," Dawn said.

"You passing out because of overdoing it with magic is a big deal, because it can start with passing out, but it can get a lot worse." Buffy told her. "You're supposed to be taking it easy with that stuff."

"I was taking it easy, but I wanted to help more. It felt like we weren't really getting anywhere, so I wanted to find more information without having to search that whole library, and I've been practicing other stuff too... I want to find out more so you can worry less. And I'm going deeper into magic because it's something I want to do for myself. I want to strengthen myself and be able to help you with more than just research. I want to really be able to defend myself against this crap we always deal with."

"You help more than enough as it is Dawn. Research is important. That's how we're ever going to find anything out about this Apocalypse... I get that you're into the magic thing, and I think it's good to pick up some extra skills that would help in a war situation and just to defend yourself. But you're going too fast. Magic is stronger than you are right now, you get too deep and it can take over you, and I'm not going to let that happen, do you understand me? Too many bad things have happened lately. I've lost too many people, I won't lose you too, kid. Got it? And don't tell me that I'm overreacting," Buffy said.

"I've got it, okay?" Dawn answered.

"Good," Buffy said. "...Now, I have something very, very, big to tell you. I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to say it, so I'm just gonna say it... I'm pregnant."

Dawn's jaw dropped and then she grinned. "...I knew it. I swear, from that day you called me from Peru, that's what I thought... You're body has never really turned on you, and when you said that you hadn't had your period, that's what I kept thinking the whole time, except that you said you couldn't be pregnant. I even did research for you. You know when you asked me if there was some sort of weird thing that could be happening to you because another birthday was just around the corner? I did research and I found nothing. You being pregnant was the only thing that made sense, except you said it wasn't possible. But I knew it."

Buffy just looked at her sister in a bit of amazement. "But why were you so sure?"

"I know that there was no solid reason to believe you were gonna have a baby, but I had this feeling. And then I saw mom in my dream a couple weeks ago telling me to be careful and not to get into any trouble. She said that you were going to have more than enough to worry about, not including the Apocalypse, and not to give you anything else to worry about. She told me to take care of you... I knew I wasn't just dreaming. It felt so real," Dawn explained.

"You saw mom...That's the way everyone's communicating lately. It's all through dreams," Buffy said. "So you're not shocked?" she asked Dawn.

"No, I'm not shocked, but I know that I should be. I mean Slayer and Vampire and a baby isn't supposed to be possible- It _is _ Angel's right?"

Buffy nodded with a little laugh. Dawn's reaction was quite amusing.

Dawn's expression changed, she was calming down. What if Buffy wanted to talk about it, what if Buffy was scared?

Dawn stopped talking a mile a minute and asked her sister, "So, how are you taking all of this? Are you okay with it?"

"I was flipping out last night, and even today, if I'm being honest. I was scared Dawnie, but I'm feeling better. I'm okay now. It's a big change, but it's-"

"It's a good change, Buffy... It's amazing," her sister said.

"It's a whole new big responsibility."

"But you're gonna do fine, Buffy. I know you will," Dawn said.

"How are you so sure?"

"First of all, you're gonna have me," Dawn said.

This drew a smile from Buffy.

"Second of all, you've got Angel, who's not gonna go anywhere. The guy practically worships the ground you walk on, and I guarantee you that he's gonna love that baby and protect it with everything he has because it's something the two of you share... Third of all, I don't know if you've told them yet, but you've got Giles, and you've got friends who will be there for you, too. But you wanna know what you have that guarantees that you're gonna do fine?"

"What's that?" Buffy asked.

"You have you," Dawn said. "And that's a whole hell of a lot. Take it from someone who knows."

Buffy smiled. "Thank you for saying that."

"I mean it. I know I didn't say it a lot. But I've always felt safe with you, ever since I was little. After mom died you took care of me. You're still taking care of me. You still protect me, and I'm not a kid anymore... So I'm not too worried about your baby. That baby is gonna be safe and loved. I don't think you need to worry about that at all."

Buffy reached over and hugged her sister tightly.

"Damn, Buffy. Love you too, but you don't need to cut off my air supply," Dawn winced. "What's up with the hug from hell?"

"Oh, I'm getting stronger, that's all," Buffy said.

"Because of the baby?" Dawn asked.

Buffy nodded.

"Wicked," Dawn said.

Buffy laughed.

"Like you weren't strong enough just being the Slayer," Dawn said sarcastically.

"I may be getting stronger, but I also happen to still be very tired at the moment. Push over Dawnie, Buffy wants to sleep."

"You can stay as long as you don't steal all the blankets, I'm going back to sleep too," Dawn said, moving over for her sister.

"I don't steal all the blankets," Buffy said.

"Yes you do. Every time I've ever shared a bed with you, you take all the blankets," Dawn argued back.

"Oh for goodness' sake. You two sound like eight year-olds," Giles said, popping his head in the door. "I heard you from the hallway."

"Sorry Giles," Buffy and Dawn said in unison.

Giles gave them a grin. "Anyway, forget about fighting for blankets. You can sleep again tonight. I found something in one of the books that I want you two to see."

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other, sighing, getting up. No resting now.

"Okay let's go," they both said, following Giles out the door.

Half-way to the library, Buffy knew she had to tell Giles about the baby.

"Giles?"

"Yes, Buffy."

"I need to tell you something important."

"Alright then, tell me," he said.

And Buffy did.

"YOU'RE WHAT? AND IT'S WHOSE?"

Well, if anyone had still been sleeping, they sure weren't now. Giles' voice echoed through the halls.


	23. Chapter 23

ooooooooooooo Here's a new chapter.

"Giles, take a pill. Don't be so loud," Buffy told him.

"Take a pill?" Giles repeated. "Forgive me, but you'll understand my shock, I'm sure," Giles answered.

"Giles, seriously, relax," Dawn said.

"How exactly do you expect me to be relaxed when we have an Apocalypse around the corner and my Slayer has just told me that she's pregnant by her vampire lover?" Giles retorted.

"Okay, what's the part that you're mad about, because you seem really mad," Buffy asked trying to stay calm. "Are you mad that I'm pregnant, or that it's Angel's, or that I'm pregnant and you're worried that I won't be able to fight? If you're worried I won't be able to fight, that's not a problem at all. Trust me, I'm stronger because of the baby."

"How about all of the above," Giles answered. "Vampires can't have children as a general rule, the only other time this has happened was with Angel and Darla and we all know how that turned out. That was disastrous at the beginning wasn't it? I don't want that for you... I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be unkind."

Angel had arrived in the hall, but nobody noticed him yet.

"Giles, don't talk about his son," Buffy said.

Angel smiled a bit at Buffy's loyalty.

"I'm just pointing out a fact. The only other known time of vampires producing a child was Darla and Angel, and their son caused a lot of grief," Giles said.

"There were other things at play Giles, you can't judge," Buffy told him. "And you just said it yourself, two vampires..."

"Angel's still a vampire. What if your child turns out to be bad?... Buffy, I'm sorry, I know how bad this might sound, but you must think about it all."

"My baby is not bad, do you understand me?" Buffy said defensively. There was an unfamiliar feeling taking over her. Something maternal.

Angel wanted to walk over to Buffy. Wanted to tell Giles off. But he knew that this was something between Buffy and her watcher.

"But-"

"I'm the damn Slayer, did you forget that?" Buffy said, voice rising. "And yeah, Angel's a vamp, but he has a soul. Our baby has two parents with a soul. There's not a whole lot of bad there."

"I'm not saying that Angel's bad. I know he's not. He and I are not the best of friends, but I do respect him, and you know that, Buffy," Giles said. "I'm just saying, he's still a vampire. And that could affect your baby."

"Okay, let me put it to you like this Giles. Yes, this baby is Angel's, but she's inside of _me_. She's growing inside of _me._ She's mine too. If there was any bad in her, which there isn't, _I'd_ wash it away. My Slayer blood is strong. My blood is in that little girl too... She's good, and you're gonna love her," Buffy said, getting emotional.

Giles' expression softened greatly. "I'm sorry, Buffy," he said softly. He walked over to her and gave her a hug, which was a rare occurrence. "I'm just being stupid, I guess," he said.

"I promise you that she's good," Buffy told him quietly. "And if you don't believe me, Willow and Xander told me that that's what the Powers said. So I'm not the only one that information is coming from."

"It doesn't matter what anyone else says. If you tell me she's good, then she's good. You're smart, and sometimes I forget that. I just tend to jump to the worst possible conclusion, especially when Angel is involved, I'll admit... But I will love your little girl when I get to meet her. How can I not love something that comes from you?"

"Thank you...Okay, I think I need to go wash my face, I'll meet you two back in the library in a few minutes," Buffy said, heading off in the other direction.

Giles and Dawn began to walk but Dawn stopped, Angel was still unseen.

"You really need to lay off of Angel, Giles," Dawn told him.

"I know. But I can't help it. I always worry about Buffy," he answered.

"My sister is a big girl, Giles. She's not only a big girl, she's the Slayer. She's more than capable of protecting herself, seeing as she protects the whole world on a regular basis. She loves Angel, and he won't hurt her, because he loves her too much," Dawn told him. "They're gonna have a baby, so for your own sake, control yourself, because I don't know how much Buffy can put up with, if you keep ragging on her daughter's father."

Angel always had a soft spot for Dawn, but it was moments like this that made him love Buffy's sister even more.

"I get that you worry about her, because let's be honest, you're more of a father to her than our own father was. I know you want to protect her, and I love you for that. She's my sister, and I also worry about her, but I'm telling you, you don't need to worry about Angel."

"Yes, yes. I know... Lecture finished now?" Giles grinned.

"Yes," Dawn said, walking into the library.

Angel soon followed them both into the library, never making it known that he had heard everything they had said.

"Hey guys, we having a meeting?"

"Hey Angel," Dawn greeted with a grin.

Angel just laughed a bit. "Hey Dawn."

"Good morning," Giles said.

"How are you doing Giles?" Angel asked.

"I think I'm doing fine," Giles responded. "I've got something to show you all as soon as Buffy gets here. I've already called Oz and Shayla, they should be here in a minute too."

Buffy, Oz, and Shayla all arrived together and then everyone sat down at the big table.

"So what's the big news?" Buffy asked.

Giles opened up one of the big books, pointed to something, and said "I think we just might win this thing."


	24. Chapter 24

oooooooooooo Here's the new chapter.

Everyone gathered around the book that Giles had opened up.

"Buffy, what happened to your head, I just noticed it right now," Dawn said.

"I had a little fall, that's all. No worries," Buffy said, changing the subject quickly. No need to rehash her breakdown in the shower from last night.

"Hey wait, I thought you said that there wasn't any more first-hand information on this Apocalypse," Dawn said, looking down at the book.

"That's what I thought. We were never able to find anything, but this is something, and we've just found it," Giles said.

"Okay, I can't see anything, what did you find?" Buffy asked, impatiently.

"I don't see what you're so anxious about," Giles told her.

"You've got information on the Apocalypse, oh yeah, and Slayer here, if you've forgotten," Buffy said, annoyed.

"It's called a joke Buffy," Giles said, with a small grin.

Angel laughed as Buffy scowled at Giles.

Buffy was getting just a bit moody.

"Okay. Haha," Buffy said. "Now how about the information please, watcher dearest?"

"Well, basically, this is someone's account of the events. And it tells us how it ended," Giles said.

"Well, don't we kinda know how it ended?" Oz asked. "Lotsa death, but ultimately whoever the good guys were, won, right? Or else we probably wouldn't be here."

"This gives specifics," Giles said.

"So what does it say?" Shayla asked.

"I'll read it for you."

_Death is in the air, I can feel it coming for me and the rest of the remaining fighters. I know that I should be fighting, but someone needs to write all of this down in case a_ _miracle happens, and we don't all perish. We've been fighting for three days now and we've lost more than half of our warriors. The strongest of our fighters is still alive. She_ _is our machine. Thank all that's good that she is here, or surely we would all be dead... As I sit here, hiding and writing, I can't believe what is going on. The female warrior is_ _fending off evil at all turns, and now our enemy is speaking to her._

"_You are a strong willed one. I'm surprised you have lasted this long. How do you manage to do it?" he laughed._

"_I'm the Slayer, that's how I do it," our hero responded._

_As I sit here watching her, her facial expression is changing. I think she has an idea._

"_Like I said, I'm the Slayer. But I can't take all the credit for it. Haven't you noticed needle-face over there? He's been going kind of easy on us. You want to know why? He's_ _helping us, and so are the rest of his kind. All of you evil ones should be prepared to die."_

_The enemy looks at the Slayer and then laughs. "Thank you for sharing that wonderful information, but that wasn't very smart on your part."_

"_And why not?" our female hero asked._

"_Because now I shall kill all of your help," the enemy says._

_The monster calls the vampires and werewolves to destroy the needle-faced demons. This is quite brutal. The vampires and werewolves are tearing them apart, and then_ _they just disappear._

_Our Slayer does not seem too upset at all. "I've still got more help," she laughs._

"_Who?" the monster asks._

"_Like I'm going to tell you. I don't need you killing more of my allies," the woman answers._

"_It's the fire-snakes, isn't it?" the enemy said._

"_I won't tell," the Slayer named Venaya answered._

_Once again the vampires and werewolves were sent to destroy another set of creatures._

"_There now, stupid girl. You're help is all gone."_

"_Oh, you think so?" Venaya asks._

"_Damn you," the evil enemy cried out, sending, once again, the vampires and werewolves, to destroy another group of monsters. This one was a varied group._

_Our Venaya, has just made the enemy kill more than half of the evil fighters. Only the big werewolves and the vampires are left. Venaya is outsmarting them. I'm sure_ _none of them were helping us. We are about even now. I think we may actually outnumber the evil ones. I must go. We actually have a chance to live. I would very much_ _like to survive. I will go to fight. If this account continues, it means that we have won. I pray that we win._

_ o_

_I am Venaya. The original scribe of this account has died. He asked me to find this, and continue writing. Good has won this fight. But we have lost so many fighters. At the_ _beginning I had more than two hundred people fighting with us. As I stand here now, I count not even fifty survivors with me, most of us having some sort of special_ _abilities. I always knew that if we were to win this, I would most likely be alive, because of the powers I possess. _

_I am the Slayer, and I have many good witches here with_ _me. We do have some normal warriors, and I'm glad to see that they live also. The evil is gone, and I pray that it stays that way. We've saved the world for now. I truly hope_ _if anyone finds this, they will not be preparing for war. I really hope we've managed to stop the evil once and for all._

o

The whole group was quiet for a minute.

"I can't believe you found that," Angel said. "That can really help."

Dawn looked a bit confused. "What do you mean? The part where she tricked him into killing his own fighters?"

"No, the part about the vampires and werewolves being able to get rid of the other evil stuff," Buffy said.

"Oooh, that's good," Dawn said, clapping her hands together, finally understanding. "Cuz hey, look to my left, vampire, look to my right, we've got some werewolves, look straight ahead, and hey it's my sister the Slayer," Dawn said.

The rest of the group laughed at Dawn's excitement.

"See, I thought that would make everyone happy," Giles said.

"And you were very right," Buffy grinned.

"I'm going to unlock the main doors downstairs, the girls should probably start arriving soon," Giles said.

"I'm gonna grab a quick shower, then I'll go meet my girls in training. I'll take the morning, Giles, do you mind training tonight? I kinda want to patrol later," Buffy said.

"That's fine," Giles answered. "But I'd still like to have at least three people on research."

"Not me, today," Dawn said, "you can sign me up for tomorrow, but my head is killing me."

"Alright, Dawnie, you come down to the gym with me. We'll get you in on the training too."

"I guess that leaves me, Shayla, and Angel, to research for today," Oz said.

"For today, yes. But tomorrow you won't have to do all the boring stuff, I promise," Buffy laughed.

"I'll see you guys later," Buffy said, leaving the library, walking slowly at first, then breaking into a run, heading for the nearest washroom.

She slammed the door behind her, fell on her knees and threw up in the toilet.

"Gross," she mumbled, getting up, rinsing her mouth out with mouthwash. "Being pregnant is gonna be so much fun," she muttered sarcastically, opening the door.

Angel was waiting for her. "You okay?" he asked. "I heard you start to run."

"I just needed some quality time with the bathroom, what with the throwing up and all,"Buffy said.

"Oh. Sorry," Angel said.

Buffy laughed a bit. "All I know is that it better not be like this for nine months, or else I'm going to be the uber-bitch, and I don't think anyone wants that."

"You would think right," Angel laughed.

"Okay, buddy, don't you have research to do?" Buffy said. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"Okay, then. I'll see you later," Angel said, kissing her forehead.

"Bye," Buffy said, heading down to the gym, hoping to get there before the others, she wanted a bit of peace and quiet before the day began.

As soon as she arrived downstairs, she had a feeling that her small time for peace and quiet just wasn't going to happen.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.


	25. Chapter 25

oooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and Enjoy.

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Buffy," a familiar voice said.

"I'm sorry, Riley," Buffy said, with a small smile. "I didn't mean it like that... Hi Sam."

"Hi," Sam replied.

Riley offered a smile, too. "Giles let us in."

"Okay, so really, what are you guys doing here?" Buffy asked again.

"We heard about what happened with Willow, Xander, and Faith. We're really sorry... And we heard that something big and bad was gonna happen," Riley said.

"Where did you hear that?" Buffy asked.

Buffy's Slayers in Training were starting to arrive. Her shower would definitely have to wait.

"Hey Buffy," one of the girls said.

"Hey you," Buffy responded. "You ready for a big work-out today? Cuz I'm gonna drill you girls hard."

"I'm ready. We can drill as hard as you like," she responded.

"That's the response I like... By the way, this is Riley and his wife Sam. Anyway, go get yourself ready and I'll be with you guys soon."

"Cool," the girl said. "Nice to meet you by the way," she said to Riley and Sam as she left.

"Looks like you're busy," Sam said.

"I've definitely been busy, but hey, I'm used to it," Buffy said. "So, how did you find out about everything?" Buffy asked.

"Spike," Riley replied.

"Excuse me?" Buffy said.

Riley laughed a bit. "Yeah, I know. Weird. I still don't like the guy. But we saw him in England, and he let us know what was going on. He's actually on his way here too, apparently."

Buffy burst out laughing, and not really because anything was particularly funny. Oh, this was going to be classic, and probably a big headache. Angel, Spike, and Riley all in the same place. Oh what fun.

Sam looked at her like she was crazy.

"Don't mind me," Buffy said. "Okay, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm gonna have to kick you guys out for now. I'll bring you upstairs, and I'll have Oz, Shayla, and Angel fill you in on everything."

"Angel?" Riley asked oddly.

"Yes, Angel's here," Buffy said.

Riley looked like he wanted to say more, but he looked at Sam and closed his mouth.

"I'll be back in 10 minutes," Buffy called out to the girls, escorting Riley and Sam out of the gym.

Buffy brought Riley and Sam to the library, and they were greeted with looks of confusion and smiles.

"Okay everyone. We've got company and you get to tell them what's going on 'cause I have Slayers to train... Angel and Riley, you've already met... I think Riley and Oz have met, too. So that leaves Sam and Shayla... I've got to bolt, but I'll see you later," Buffy said.

Angel didn't look all that happy to see Riley, and Riley looked the same way.

Buffy walked over to Angel, giving him a kiss, and whispering, "Be good."

Angel just smirked at her, as Riley stared from the side.

Shayla grabbed Buffy's hand before she left, pulling her aside. "There's a story between you, Angel and Riley, and I want to hear about it later."

Buffy grinned and nodded her head.

As she walked down the hall she saw her sister, dawdling around. "Dawnie, if you want to get in on the training get down to the gym now, if not, which I think, at this point, would be a good idea, you can go back to the library and make sure everyone behaves. Riley and Sam are here, and apparently Spike's on the way too."

Dawn broke out in a huge grin. "Oh this is gonna be so interesting...As much as I was actually wanting to train, I think I might be needed more in the library. I know Riley's married now, but him and Angel- I don't see them getting along so well. I think I'll go back to the library and keep the peace."

"Okay, that's good. Thank you," Buffy said. "Now get back there."

Dawn just laughed on her way back to the library.

Buffy got back to the gym and her Slayers were ready, waiting for her, stretching and what not. Buffy watched them for a good ten minutes before saying anything.

"Okay ladies," she said, getting their attention. "I don't think you know any of what I'm going to tell you, so go ahead and be shocked and scared. You're allowed to be scared. But I'm hoping that you'll get passed that because you're gonna be needed when the action starts."

All eyes were on Buffy.

"I'm not exactly sure when it's gonna happen, I'm thinking it's still months away, but the point is, the big evils in this world are gonna throw another Apocalypse at us. They want to destroy everything we have here. They want the world dead and gone. They want _us_ dead and gone."

If any of the girls were talking before they were all quiet now.

"Work with me ladies, and we can win this thing. We're smarter, and if we're all together, I think we're stronger... If you're too scared to fight, please leave now. If you're gonna stick with me, then stay. I'm warning you now, I'm gonna drill you girls hard. I'm gonna kick your asses. But I'm gonna do it to make you stronger, to see what your made of, and because I care about you. I want you girls to fight me back. If I'm pummeling you, and you think you can get one up on me, try to take me down. It's not just you who's training, I'll be training too, because I'm in this, to the end, even if it means _my _ end."

Buffy heard a small whisper of "Whoa," but it didn't come from any of her Slayers.

Buffy looked around and noticed Sam and Shayla standing by the door to the gym. Buffy turned back around to face her Slayers.

"I don't need any time to think. I'm in this," one girl said.

"Me too."

"What choice do we really have anyway? It's fight or be killed."

Slowly, one by one each girl decided she would stay and fight.

"You're really starting to understand the meaning of being Slayers... I want you guys to start by pairing off, just take each other on, two by two. I'll be back with you in a couple minutes."

Buffy turned back around and walked over to Shayla and Sam.

"I thought you guys were upstairs," Buffy said.

"Yeah, but that got old quick," Sam said.

"Angel and Riley aren't getting along too well," Shayla said. "They snap at each other over nothing."

"Oz and your sister were playing referee, and I was kind of getting sick of listening to Angel and Riley, so was Shayla, so we decided to come watch you and your girls train- if you don't mind," Sam said.

"Oz and Dawn are keeping everything civil?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Shayla said.

"Yeah, cool, you guys are welcome to watch," Buffy said, walking back to her girls.

"Okay girls, you can stay in pairs for the most part but I'm gonna come around, and I'm gonna take you on one on one... Okay, Linda break it off, you and me," Buffy said, moving to one of the corners.

"Okay, you play Slayer, and I'll play vamp. Let's go," Buffy said, lunging at Linda.

Linda moved out of the way, but Buffy came right back at her, knocking her to the ground from behind, so that she was on her back.

"And right now dear Linda, if I was a vamp, I would be feasting away on you," Buffy said, leaning her head towards Linda's neck.

Linda sighed.

"Just keep practicing," Buffy told her, moving on to another girl.

This girl was ready for a fight. She came running at Buffy, and started throwing punches and kicks from every angle. Buffy blocked everything, but this other girl was tough, she wouldn't give up. As she and Buffy continued to fight, the girl slowly backed Buffy into a corner, which Buffy greeted with a swift kick to the stomach, knocking the girl backwards. The girl got up quickly and ran at Buffy again, but to no success.

Buffy knew that she was cornered, so she did what she could to get out of that situation. Just as the girl ran at Buffy, Buffy jumped about eight feet in the air, and actually _ran_ across the wall, coming back down and now reversing her place with the Slayer in training. Buffy was now the one who cornered the girl. Buffy ran at her, pretending to hold a stake as she pressed her hand to the girl's heart.

"Damn, you're good, Buffy," the girl told her.

"You're doing pretty well yourself."

"Holy crap Shayla, did you just see that? Buffy ran the freakin' wall," Sam said in amazement.

"I can't believe she's pregnant and still kicking ass like nobody's business," Shayla said.

"What did you say?" Sam asked, jaw dropping. "Buffy's pregnant?"

"Shit," Shayla mumbled, she didn't mean to let it slip, it just happened. "You can't tell anyone, I mean it. Not even Riley. This is Buffy's business. She'll tell people if she wants anyone to know. So, seriously, don't say a word. Please," Shayla said quietly.

"I'll keep my mouth shut," Sam promised.

Practice training went on for hours. Buffy and her Slayers were exhausted and dripping sweat by the time they stopped, which was around sundown. Buffy let the Slayers shower up and leave the Fortress first, before she would take her own shower. After the girls left, Buffy locked up the doors.

Sam and Shayla were still in the gym with Buffy, giving her compliments left, right, and center.

"You're amazing," Sam said.

"Thanks," Buffy laughed. "It's just Slayer stuff."

"Thanks for letting us watch by the way," Shayla said.

"No prob," Buffy said.

"I just want you to know that I won't say anything about the baby," Sam told Buffy.

Buffy was too shocked by Sam's words to notice that someone was looking in the window.

"Excuse me?" Buffy said.

"I kind of let it slip. I'm so sorry," Shayla said. "I didn't do it on purpose. Please don't be mad... I didn't plan on letting anyone know you were pregnant. I only told Oz because you said that was okay, and really I just let it slip, but don't worry, Sam won't tell," Shayla said nervously.

Buffy took a deep breath. "That's okay, as long as nobody else knows about it. I just really don't need it getting out to whatever evil is lurking that the Slayer's pregnant. They'll go straight after my baby, and I don't need that when I'm fighting in the potential war to end the world, you know?" Buffy said.

"Don't worry, I'll kill you both soon enough. You won't even need to worry about the Apocalypse," an unfamiliar voice said.

Buffy turned around and saw one really ugly vampire at the window.

"What a dumbass," she said, jumping into the air.

"Stake," Buffy called. Her stake was in her hand in less than a second.

"Bye bye," Buffy said, plunging the stake straight into the vampires heart, turning him to dust.

"They never learn not to screw with me," Buffy said, closing the window tight.

Sam and Shayla just watched Buffy in amazement. Buffy got rid of that vamp in like 5 seconds.

"Are you sure you're pregnant?" Sam asked.

"She's pregnant, trust me," Shayla said.

Buffy just grinned at them.

"I think I deserve some time to just relax in the shower, wouldn't you say?" Buffy smiled.

"Uh-huh," they nodded, still amazed.

"I'm just gonna shower up, if anyone's looking for me later, tell them I'm out patrolling," Buffy said.

"You've been going at it for how many hours now? Now you're going to patrol. Are you mental?" Sam asked.

"No, I'm just the Slayer," Buffy smirked, walking off.


	26. Chapter 26

ooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review!

Buffy sat atop one Vincenzo Rinaldi's headstone, chewing her gum, and humming a song.

"Come out, come out, evil little vampires," Buffy said sweetly. "I'm in the mood for a really good slay."

Buffy jumped off the headstone, annoyed. Technically it was a good thing that there weren't any vampires lurking around, but she really just wanted to pummel something.

She'd dusted the vamp that climbed up to the window without any effort at all, but it was starting to bother her. She'd proven herself right, the vamp found out she was pregnant, and immediately wanted to take her and the baby out. This left Buffy with a bit of an uneasy feeling. Evil would want her baby dead. Nobody could find out about this, at least not anytime soon.

Buffy would admit it, but only to herself. She had been a bit scared back at the gym, not of the vampire, but for her daughter. Man, that was weird. Just saying daughter still sounded so awkward... He wanted to kill her baby, and that wasn't right.

Buffy heard a rustle of leaves behind her.

"Finally," Buffy said. "Something to kill."

Out of the shadows stepped two vampires.

"Oh goody, double the fun for me," Buffy said, whipping out a couple stakes.

"So Slayer, we hear that you're expecting. Congratulations are an order," one vamp said.

Buffy's whole expression changed. Cocky Buffy was gone. Defensive Buffy was here.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"You may have killed our friend, but we still heard everything you said inside your gym... Your little one would be strong no doubt. Another Slayer I would bet. We don't need anymore of those... You'll understand why we're going to kill you both, I'm sure," the other vampire said.

"You heard wrong," Buffy said. "How many more of your stupid friends know about this crazy story?" she asked.

"Ten," they grinned. "And they'll be joining us momentarily. They want to feast on Slayer too, and who are we to be greedy?"

Buffy had heard enough. Before the vampires had time to react Buffy threw the stakes straight through their hearts.

If they were telling the truth Buffy had a small army of vamps coming to find her any minute. She picked up both her stakes, stuck one in each front pocket and grabbed another one from her bag and put it in her back pocket. She had her other stake in the bag, but she didn't need to be holding that one, she could just call for it, and it would come. Finally, she pulled out an axe-type weapon.

As if on cue a gang of vampires arrived, and this time they didn't bother with any small talk. They all rushed Buffy at once.

"Let's test this new apparent super-strength I have," Buffy mumbled to herself, launching herself into the air. She spread her legs in mid-air, split kicking two vampires at once, knocking them to the ground. Buffy still hadn't hit the ground. Using her own speed and momentum, she moved, almost flew, at another two vampires, knocking them down, also. She finally landed on top of these two and staked them immediately. The other two vamps she had knocked to the ground were still down. So Buffy only had to deal with six vamps, which still seemed too much.

They started to come at her, and Buffy grabbed her axe. She beheaded one, and he quickly turned to dust. Most of what happened next was just a blur. Vamps attacked and Buffy defended herself any way she knew how. She used kicks and punches, stakes and her axe, and when it was over Buffy was the only one left standing.

"Damn," Buffy said. "I guess it is true. Baby girl, you're making me near indestructible."

"You might be, but I bet your baby's not," a voice said, surprising Buffy.

Buffy staked this mystery vampire quickly, but he'd caused some damage of his own. He had stabbed a sword straight into Buffy's stomach, and now Buffy was bleeding like nobody's business.

"Oh my God," she yelled. "No. Please. God," Buffy ripped off her jacket, and pressed it to her stomach.

Buffy clutched her stomach and tried to run back to the Fortress, using all of her strength. She finally made it back to the Fortress and fumbled for her keys. She got in the door and shut it behind her.

"Angel! Shayla!" she screamed. "I need you now!" Buffy yelled, completely scared now.

Buffy was okay, but the baby, who knew.

"Angel, Shayla. My God, get over here now!" Buffy was crying now. She was frightened beyond belief.

Only last night Buffy was unsure about having a baby, but right now she was sure that she wanted this baby girl more than anything. She couldn't let anything happen to her.

Angel flew down the stairs and Shayla quickly followed.

"The baby," Buffy sobbed, removing the jacket from her stomach, blood falling to the floor.

Angel ran to her.

"I can't lose her, Angel. It hasn't even been two days, but I love her already," Buffy said hysterically.

Shayla pushed Angel aside, and ran to Buffy. She pulled off Buffy's shirt, and rested her hand over the massive spot of blood.

Buffy's screaming had brought everyone down the stairs, but nobody noticed them. Buffy, Angel, and Shayla were all worried about the baby.

"Shayla, tell me she's okay," Buffy begged. Shayla didn't answer, she was busy chanting.

Angel took Buffy's hand, and she squeezed it tightly.

"I dusted twelve vamps before this, I let my guard down for two seconds and then one, _one_ stupid vamp got me, just as I killed him" Buffy said, trying to control her breathing. "Oh my God, you must hate me right now," Buffy said to Angel. "I let my guard down, and I got our baby hurt. I didn't protect her... I'm so sorry," Buffy said, crying again.

"Don't talk like that," Angel said, bringing her hand to his lips, kissing it softly. "She's gonna be fine. She's strong. And you protected her just fine. I should have been there. I'm the one who's sorry, okay."

Giles, Dawn, Oz, Sam, Riley and Spike (he'd arrived only a couple hours earlier) all looked on in shock. Especially Riley and Spike. Buffy was pregnant, and the baby was Angel's?

"I think the baby's gonna be just fine," Shayla finally said, getting up.

Everyone on the stairs took this as the cue to leave before Buffy and Angel could see them spying.

"Are you sure?" Buffy said.

"Yeah, but you were right to flip out. It was bad, Buffy. But it's fine now. You just need to go lie down," Shayla said.

"No, I'm fine. As long as the baby's okay, I'm fine," Buffy insisted, wiping her eyes, pulling herself together.

"Listen to me. I'm telling you to lie down. You might be fine, but your baby needs you to rest right now."

"You said everything was fine."

"And it will be as long as you get some rest, okay? Just do it for your baby. You don't need to be the Slayer right now," Shayla insisted.

"Okay," Buffy said.

"Come on," Angel said, hugging Buffy close.

Meanwhile, back upstairs, Riley and Spike couldn't shut up about the latest news.

"So Buffy's gonna have a demon child? That's great. We're probably gonna have to kill her daughter," Riley said.

Before he could say anymore, his face was greeted by Dawn's fist.

"Not a demon child, you _ass_. Just a beautiful baby. That's my niece you're talking about. So you'd better watch it. And I swear to God, mark my words Riley Finn, if you try to hurt her, I will kill you myself," Dawn hissed.

"I was only kidding," Riley said.

"You don't kid about stuff like that, not if you and your wife plan on sticking around here," Dawn growled.

"Is it really Angel's?" Spike asked rather pathetically.

"Oh please, just shut up," Dawn said. "Everyone, find a room and just go to sleep. This day has been crazy," she said, walking away from the group. She was not in a good mood.

Dawn wanted to find her sister, just to check on her one last time, but she didn't have to walk far. Buffy was on the stairs.

"Hey Dawnie," Buffy said.

"Hey," she replied, instantly hugging her sister.

"I heard what you just said to Riley," Buffy told her.

"He's just being a dumbass," Dawn said.

"Thank you for saying what you said though, that means a lot," Buffy said.

"I told you, I'm here for whatever you need, and if that means telling off and threatening Riley Finn, that's what I'll do," Dawn told her sister.

Buffy kissed her sister's forehead. "You should get to bed yourself, you look exhausted," Buffy told her.

"Yeah, I am going to bed, I just wanted to see that you were okay first. Goodnight then," Dawn said.

"Night," Buffy responded.

Angel and Shayla finally came up the stairs. "Seriously, get some sleep, okay?" Shayla said, heading off into the room she had been staying in.

That left Buffy and Angel alone in the hall.

"Come on," Angel said, opening one of the doors.

There were so many rooms in the fortress. It was ready to be lived in if needed, which was a good thing, because these days, the Fortress was home to a whole bunch of people.

Buffy followed Angel into the room, and closed the door behind her. She changed out of the clothes she was wearing and threw them out the window, never wanting to look at them again.

Buffy could tell that Angel wanted to say something, but he stayed quiet, just kissing her instead.

"We'll talk tomorrow," Buffy said.

Angel just nodded, holding her tight.


	27. Chapter 27

ooooooooooo Here another chapter. Review and enjoy.

Buffy slowly opened her eyes, Angel was already awake beside her.

"Do you ever actually sleep?" Buffy asked, yawning.

"I do," Angel smiled. "You just sleep longer."

"What time is it anyway?" Buffy asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Almost noon," Angel said.

"Crap," Buffy muttered, getting out of the bed quickly. "I have to train the girls."

Angel got up. "Relax," he told her. "Giles is with the girls today, remember? You were gonna join the research team."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Buffy said. "Well I guess we'd better head off to the library, then."

"Not yet," Angel said. "You said we were gonna talk today. So let's talk."

"Well, I got the feeling that you wanted to say something. I don't really have anything to say, though," Buffy told him.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Angel told her.

"For what?" Buffy asked him.

"Last night."

"Angel, don't go there. Nothing was your fault. A big stupid group of vamps was outside the gym window and they heard talk of me having a baby. There were twelve of them when I was patrolling. They swarmed me, but I took care of every single one of them, even the one who stabbed me. It was my fault. For two seconds, two freakin' seconds, I wasn't paying attention and that vamp got me. But that was _my _ fault. And I'm fine. Look at me. And the baby's fine too."

"But it's not your fault. You deserve two seconds to just stop and breathe, and not have to worry about something trying to kill the baby. You said it before, you've always taken care of yourself, you've always been stronger than anyone I know. Now you're even stronger, I mean, you took on twelve vamps and dusted them all.

"With more power comes more trouble, Buffy. You're stronger and that means you're going to do more. You've got to protect yourself, kill the bad guys, and protect the baby. That is not fair to you... I should have been there with you. I'm sorry," he told her.

"Stop saying you're sorry," Buffy told him. "You were doing research like I asked you to do, remember? Stop apologizing for not being there. It's not your fault, and I never once last night blamed you for what happened. So just relax, you don't need to be my white-knight all the time. Everything's okay," Buffy said, giving him a small smile.

"Are you patrolling tonight?" Angel asked her.

"Yeah, business as usual, why?"

"I'm coming with you," Angel said.

"NO you're not," Buffy said, getting angry now.

"And why not?" Angel asked. "I used to patrol with you all the time."

"You used to patrol with me to help me out. I knew it was your way of looking out for me. I don't know why, but you've always had this thing where you think you need to protect me, but you don't. I can take care of myself. Back then, you knew that. You wanted to protect me but you knew that I could always take care of myself because I'm the Slayer.

"Back then, I knew you were trying to protect me, and as much as I never wanted to admit it, I loved you for it. It was sweet. The difference then and the difference now is that you seem to forget who I am. I'm the Slayer, for God's sake. I save the world on a regular basis, and now you're acting like I can't even take care of myself or protect the baby... You need to get it through your head that I'm not helpless.

"Angel, if you can remember that I'm the Slayer, I'd love to have you back me up out there, because I love patrolling with you. But if all you're thinking is that I can't do this, please stay away," Buffy told him.

"Do you think that I could really ever forget who you are? I've seen you in action. I know how strong you are. I have never doubted that for a second. I still don't," Angel told her.

"Then what is it?" Buffy sighed.

"We might all be dead in months. We have an Apocalypse to fight. You're focused as hell on that. You have that to worry about. You have Slayers to train. You have research to get done. You have other people around here who need you. Now add on to that that you're pregnant. That's a whole lot for one person to handle. Slayer or not. There are some things that I have no control over, but you and the baby aren't one of those things." Angel said.

"Excuse me?" Buffy said.

"I don't mean it like that," Angel insisted. "Sometimes I feel useless around here. I do what I can to help, but I know there are some things that are strictly your territory. The baby, though, she's mine too, and you, come on, I worry about you, Slayer or not ... And I'm sorry if I'm making you think that I don't believe you're strong enough to protect the baby, or that I'm only worried _because_ you're pregnant. None of that is the case. I know you're strong, but just let me protect my daughter. Let me protect you, in the few seconds that you're not in Super Slayer mode. Let me do better for her than I did for my son. Let me feel that I'm needed just a bit." Angel said.

Buffy's jaw dropped a little bit. "Oh," Buffy said. Damn, she could be stupid sometimes.

She was quiet for a minute before answering him.

"You are needed," she told him gently. "I need you. That's why I screamed for you last night. I was so scared when I saw all that blood, I screamed for you, because I needed you with me. Because I know this little girl is yours too... I'm sorry if I ever make you feel like she's not. I don't mean to do that."

Angel gave her a smile. "So am I welcome on patrol, or am I just gonna have to track you and lurk in the shadows?" he asked.

"You're welcome to join me in the cemetery for the fun that is known as patrol, as long as you bring a desire to kill a bunch of evil nasties."

"It's a date then," Angel said.

"Always the cemetery. We really need to go somewhere new," Buffy laughed.


	28. Chapter 28

ooooooooooooooo Here's my new chapter. Review and enjoy!

Buffy and Angel walked into the library.

"Hey everyone," Buffy greeted. "Hey Spike," she nodded. "Riley, I want to talk to you for a minute," she said, walking to the back of the library.

Riley met Buffy at the back of the library, and Sam joined him.

"No offence Sam, but I asked Riley to come back here, not you... But since you're here you might as well stay," Buffy said.

Riley just stared at her.

"How's your face Riley?" Buffy asked, her face almost turning to stone.

"What?" Riley asked.

"How's your face, from you know, when Dawn popped you one?"

"Oh," Riley said quietly. "So you heard my stupid comment then?"

"Yeah, I did," Buffy said icily. "Now let me make something perfectly clear, I know that my sister threatened to kill you, and she might have truly meant it, but I swear to you, if you ever make a comment like that about my baby again, or if you ever try to hurt her, I swear to God, I will end you. You will be dead, no lie."

Riley was absolutely silent and Sam looked really uncomfortable.

Buffy almost didn't recognize herself. It was only days ago that she had been scared out of her mind about being pregnant, but look at her now. In a matter of only days Buffy had fallen in love with the baby growing inside her, and was in fiercely protective mode. She wasn't going to let anything happen to her baby, no matter who she had to fight or threaten.

"Listen, I'm sorry. It was a dumbass thing to say. It was a stupid Angel joke. But I didn't mean it," Riley told her. "You still mean a lot to me, and I would never do something to hurt your daughter."

Buffy stared hard at him and knew that he regretted what he did. She just nodded her head at him.

"Let's go do some research," she said, heading back to the rest of the group.

Buffy, Riley, and Sam all joined the group, sitting down at the table.

"Giles and Dawnie are our research machines. Giles isn't here today, he's downstairs with the Slayers, so Dawnie's in charge in here," Buffy said, looking at her sister.

Dawn shot Buffy a nervous looking smile.

"So where do we start, my dear leader?" Buffy asked her sister.

"Well I think we found some pretty useful books. Those are the ones that me and Giles laid out here. But I think we should probably go over the stuff we already know, cuz we've got some new members in the group."

"Good idea," Buffy agreed.

Everyone looked to Dawn to explain, but she was staring at the door.

"Why are you here?" Dawn said, to a guy standing at the door.

"I need to talk to you," the guy said.

"I told you to stay the hell away from me," Dawn said.

"But-"

"She said she wanted you to stay away from her," Buffy repeated for her sister.

"Listen, just give me two minutes Dawn, then I'll get out of here. I swear."

"Fine. Two minutes. Then you forget that you ever knew me," Dawn said, getting up.

Dawn looked to Oz. "Do you mind letting the newbies know what's up?" she asked.

"No prob," Oz said, as Dawn left the library, closing the door behind her.

Buffy got up quickly.

"Where are you going?" Oz asked.

"Uh, where do you think I'm going? Some strange guy shows up for my sister, a guy she doesn't want to see. I'm going to listen at the door... You don't need me at the table to tell them what we know. You go right ahead," Buffy said, heading for the door.

Oz told Spike, Riley, and Sam what they had found out, as Buffy listened at the door.

"What the hell are you doing here? How dare you show your face after what you did?" Dawn hissed.

"Oh come on, it's not like you didn't enjoy it," the guy said.

"Oh and me screaming 'No. No. No. Get the hell off me,' that was me enjoying it?" Dawn growled.

"Oh God, no," Buffy said. "Son of a bitch," she hissed.

This got the attention of everyone in the library.

"I told you not to touch me. I said I wasn't ready and you didn't listen, you stupid bastard. I begged you to stop, but you didn't. Do you even know how much you hurt me?"

Buffy was pacing behind the door.

The group was about to get up, but Buffy motioned them with her hand to stay sitting.

"You're overreacting. I didn't hurt you. If it was that bad you could have pushed me off. Come on, you like me, I like you."

"I'm overreacting? You didn't hurt me? Do you know what the hell it's like being a girl, you dumbass? Losing your virginity, you know the breaking of the hymen, that's painful all on its own, but when a son of a bitch like you _forces_ your damn way in, it's excruciating."

Buffy was fuming.

Oz was still explaining away, but Sam and Shayla noticed Buffy and broke away from the group at the table, joining Buffy at the door.

"You have the nerve to tell me that I could have pushed you off. What the hell do you think I was _trying_ to do? You've got like 70 pounds on me, you creep. I _couldn't_ get you off of me."

Buffy had heard enough. Sam and Shayla also heard the last part too.

Buffy threw the door open and lunged at the guy. She started her attack on him.

By this point Spike, Oz, Angel, and Riley all came running out of the room, and noticed Buffy pummelling the guy on the ground.

"Buffy," Riley called out. "What the hell are you doing?" he said, beginning to make his way over to Buffy and the boy.

Sam stepped in front of her husband. "Stay back, Finn. That little worm deserves everything she gives him and more."

"What the hell happened?" Oz asked quietly, looking from Dawn near tears in the corner to Buffy pummelling the guy on the floor.

"That dumbass did something he really shouldn't have done," Shayla said. "You guys should just go back in the library."

"Why?" Spike asked.

"Please, just go," Dawn said quietly.

"What happened?" Spike asked again.

Angel understood. Buffy's cussing, Dawn's tears, Buffy's beating the hell out of the guy. This guy put his hands on Dawn.

"Buffy, you're gonna kill him," Dawn said. "Just get off him, he's not worth it."

"So how do you like being pinned down with someone on top of you, huh? How does it feel to have no control over this?" Buffy said, as she punched this loser's face in.

"Please stop," the guy cried.

"Did you stop?" Buffy asked him wickedly.

"No."

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you?" Buffy said, continuing her assault.

"No. No. I didn't," he yelled.

Buffy continued bloodying the boy's face.

Angel walked over to Buffy.

"Buffy seriously, you're gonna kill him," Angel told her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I know he deserves to pay for what he did to your sister, but you can't kill him," Angel told her gently.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because _technically _he's not evil. But only technically," Angel told her. "Get up Buffy," he said.

She didn't.

"Okay then," Angel said, pulling Buffy off of the boy himself.

"Thanks man," the boy said, wiping his bloody face on his sleeve. "That bitch is psycho."

Before the boy could say anything else, Angel kicked him _hard, _sending the boy tumbling down the stairs.

Sam and Shayla ran down the stairs, to check if the kid was still alive. He was.

They picked him up and hauled him out the door.

Buffy took a deep breath and looked at her sister. "When?"

"Yesterday, after we were all in the library," Dawn said quietly, wiping her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Buffy asked her sister, walking over to her and hugging her hard.

"You have enough to worry about, I didn't want you to be mad at me," Dawn whispered.

"What?" Buffy asked. "Why the hell would I be mad at you? This wasn't your fault, do you understand me? He's a little bastard. And I don't care how much I have to worry about. Something like this happens, you come and tell me."

"I'm feeling really tired," Dawn said. "He just threw me totally off balance... I feel sick."

"Come on," Buffy said, taking her sister's hand. "You're gonna get some more sleep. The guys can deal with the research today."

Dawn nodded and headed into the room that had become hers.

Buffy followed and closed the door behind her.

Dawn lay down on the bed, and Buffy did the same.

"Come here, you," Buffy said, motioning her sister into her open arms. And Dawn did come.

"Guys suck," Dawn said.

"Yeah, they really kinda do, for the most part," Buffy agreed. "Now are you okay, for real? I heard what you said... Did you go the hospital? Did you get checked out?"

"Yeah, I went. I'm fine now. He just really screwed me up" Dawn said. "Can we not talk about this anymore, please? I think I just want to sleep."

"Go ahead and sleep," Buffy said quietly, running her hand through her sister's hair.

o

Dawn slept through the whole day and Buffy stayed with her.

It wasn't until dark that someone opened the door to Dawn's room. It was Angel.

"Hey. Don't worry about patrol tonight. I'll do it. You stay with your sister," Angel said quietly.

"That's sweet, but no. I _really_ want to kill something today," Buffy said, getting up slowly, trying not to wake her sister.

She covered Dawn up with a blanket, and closed the door quietly behind her.

"Just give me two seconds to grab a sweater," Buffy said, grabbing her sweater and some weapons from the other room.

"Is she okay?" Angel asked gently.

"Do you think she's okay?" Buffy snapped, immediately regretting it. "Sorry," she said. "It's just you didn't hear what she said."

"What did she say?" Angel asked.

Buffy just shook her head.

"It's just personal. I can't tell you. It's girl stuff," Buffy said, as they walked out the doors of the Fortress.

"It's okay. I get it." Angel didn't push it any further.

Buffy turned to Angel and took his hand, squeezing it tight. "So how did everything go in the library today? You guys find anything useful?"

"We read some more stuff, it was mostly about the Slayer in the big battle," Angel said.

"What did it say?" Buffy asked, leading the way to the cemetery.

"Basically, what happened was the Slayer was the first target the last time. They searched for her and found her. She had hid among the rest of the fighters hoping to surprise the big bads, but they searched for her specifically, trying to eliminate her first."

"Well, they won't have to search for me. I'll be front and centre," Buffy said.

"And I'll be there with you," Angel told her.

"I like the sound of that," Buffy smiled.

Her lips just barely touched Angel's, when something jumped on her back.

"You couldn't give me like two minutes to get some kissage in?" Buffy said sarcastically to the vampire Angel was tossing off of Buffy's back.

Buffy pulled out her stake and plunged it into the vampire. Dust.

"There had better be more. That was no fun at all," Buffy complained.

"Well, we should have a bit of fun now," Angel said, pointing ahead.

Three vamps were running their way.

"Oh goody," Buffy said, grabbing a stake, and charging at the vampires.

Angel grinned and ran ahead, following, ready for a fight.

"Hello Slayer," one of the vampires greeted as Buffy lunged at him.

"Don't talk to me," Buffy said. "Fight," she hissed as she pushed him to the ground.

"As you wish," the vampire laughed, throwing Buffy off of him.

Off to the side Angel was fighting with one of the other two vampires, while the remaining one just stood in the middle of both fights, seemingly not knowing what to do.

As Buffy fell backwards onto the hard ground, the remaining vampire decided where he would go. He charged at Buffy from behind while the other vampire did the same from the front.

Buffy saw this, and got up immediately, but she didn't move.

As Angel dusted the vampire he was fighting with, he turned his attention to Buffy. What was she doing? She wasn't moving.

"Buffy!" Angel yelled.

She looked at him and just grinned. She had a plan.

Angel didn't bother moving, he just wanted to see what Buffy had up her sleeve.

The two vampires were only inches away, and this is when Buffy launched herself into the air.

The two vampires collided with one another, both flying backwards to the ground.

Angel and the two other vamps both waited for Buffy to come down, but she didn't.

"Where the hell is she?" Angel muttered worriedly.

"Oh come on Slayer, you can't run away from a fight, it's so un-Slayerlike," one of the vamps taunted.

Angel looked up and spotted Buffy. She was in a _tree._ Angel gave her a 'how did you get up there?' look, to which Buffy just grinned in response.

"Oh come on boys," Buffy said sweetly. "You should know by now that I don't run away from things like you... I slay them. Nighty night," Buffy laughed, jumping down from the tree.

"Stake," she called. Now she had two stakes. One in each hand.

The two vampires got up, which was good. It made the staking so much easier.

Just before Buffy's feet hit the ground, she plunged the two stakes into the vampires. Within seconds they were nothing more than dust on the ground.

"That was fun," Buffy said.

Angel just looked at her and laughed. "How did you get in the tree? I mean I know you can jump, but that was higher than I've ever seen you go."

"The baby," Buffy said easily. "I've got your strength now too," she said, her mind going back to her sister. "I think it's gonna be pretty quiet out here now. I want to go back and check on Dawn."

"Let's go then," Angel said, walking with her, back to the Fortress.

Before they actually got inside, they heard a crashing noise, and both rushed in.

"What the hell?" Buffy said, barging through the door.

Spike had knocked into the bookshelf, sending the books flying and knocking over the coat rack in the process.

"What happened?" Angel asked, rushing in behind Buffy.

"Just me," Spike said, embarrassed. "Little clumsy today."

"What were you trying to do?" Buffy asked, as she and Angel helped to pick up the fallen books.

"I was actually gonna use your gym, I figure this is the best time since you're not using it to train anyone at the moment. I just wasn't looking where I was going," Spike said.

"Speaking of training and the gym, it's good that you're both here," Buffy said. "What do you say to helping me out with my girls?"

"Like we did in Sunnydale?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, exactly," Buffy said. "Go at it with my Slayers. As much as I train with them, it's always good to actually get real experience. You two are the real deal, and the only ones I trust not to bite them... Don't go easy on them, though. Fight like you're lives depend on it... So what do you guys say? You wanna help the Slayer out?" she asked sweetly.

"Count me in," Angel said.

"Me too," Spike agreed.

"Good," Buffy yawned. "Spike, do you know if Dawn woke up?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Did she say anything?" Buffy asked.

"She came to check on how the research was going. Said she was sorry that she wasn't there earlier in the day, but that she was better now and ready to help with the research."

"What did you tell her?" Buffy asked.

"I told her to go back to bed. I told her you Summers women were a little touched in the head. There's times when you should sit some things out, and that this was one of those times. I told her to take care of herself. Let the others take care of the research for today."

"Thank you for looking out for her," Buffy told Spike.

"Anytime," he answered.

"So you're welcome to the gym, just please keep the windows closed, we don't need any unwanted visitors."

"Will do," Spike said. "See you tomorrow," he said, heading into the gym.


	29. Chapter 29

oooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy!

"Ladies, if your Slayer senses are tingling, that's good, because they should be. You should already know why, but in case you don't, we've got two vampires in the room right now."

"Well what are we waiting for, let's stake them," one girl shouted.

"You do that, and you'll wish I'd plunged a stake into _your_ heart when I'm done with you," Buffy said with deadly seriousness.

"Okay," the girl muttered quietly.

Angel and Spike stifled a laugh.

"You guys are all Slayers, but I've been doing this _way _ longer than you. I was fifteen when I was called, younger than any of you in here. These two are good, trust me. I wouldn't lie to you about that," Buffy said with a softer tone.

"Okay, you I can trust," one girl said. "But why are they here?" she asked.

"To help you train," Buffy said simply.

"And how are they gonna do that?" one girl asked.

"Buffy, I knew these girls aren't as good as you, but come on, don't they at least have-" Angel began.

"Brains?" Spike finished for him.

"Angel, Spike," Buffy said, trying not to laugh, "be nice."

Buffy turned back towards the girls. "We're Vampire Slayers, they're vampires. They're gonna help you train by fighting with you, no holds barred, well except for the sinking of fangs into your neck."

"So we're supposed to let them attack us?"

"No, you're supposed to fight them, but no stakes allowed... Fight to the death, minus the death part," Buffy said.

"What if I don't want to?" a girl asked with attitude.

"Then you can take your butt out the door, you know where it is," Buffy answered.

The girl said nothing else.

"Alright. There's thirty of you, two of them," Buffy mumbled. "Angel you take the ones the right and Spike you take the fifteen on the left. When you're done with one, move on to the next one," Buffy told the girls. "Fight till either one gets to the point that would mean death and then move on. Got it ladies?" Buffy asked.

"This is bullshit, Buffy," a blonde girl called out.

"Hey," Spike said.

"You do _not _talk to her like that," Angel added.

"If you don't like this, then get the hell out of my face, and don't blame me when you die in the Apocalypse... I'm serious, this is your chance to go. If you stay and I hear another stupid remark from you, I will literally _throw _you out of here myself, and don't think for a second that I'm kidding."

"Okay, sorry. I'm shutting up."

"Good. Okay, now let's break up into the groups."

Buffy sat back and watched the action. Her girls weren't doing too bad, but so far, Angel and Spike had one upped most of them. Buffy was watching both Angeland Spike with the girl they were each taking on, and she got annoyed with her Slayers, they were ending things too quickly.

"Okay stop. We've got some problems here, and it's with my girls," Buffy said walking over.

"Okay first," she said, going over to Spike, moving the girl aside. "What the hell are you doing? You consider being backed into the corner the point of imminent death? Being backed into a corner does not mean you become a tasty treat. Watch this," Buffy said.

"Okay, Spike back me into the corner," Buffy said. Spike did what she asked, so that Buffy's back was against the wall.

"As the Slayer, I've still got options here. We're agile ladies, we're athletic, and yes, these guys are really strong, but so are we. Don't forget that... In this position he would probably beat me if I tried to go hand-to-hand with him, and he could probably block me if I tried to shove him off, but remember we're just as strong as them, you _might_ be able to shove him off. Better yet, save some of your energy, don't fight, just jump," Buffy said, launching herself into the air, coming down on the other side of Spike. Buffy was no longer cornered.

Buffy could have jumped higher, but she wanted to show the girls what they could do naturally as Slayers, not with the additional powers she currently had because of her baby, jumping even higher than usual, being one of these powers.

"See," Buffy said, pointing at her head. "We've got strength, but don't forget your brains."

Now Buffy moved over to Angel and the other Slayer. "Okay now you, Debbie. I don't know what you were just thinking."

"You said we fight till it gets to the point where death would be right around the corner. He was close enough to bite me."

"Sweetie," Buffy said. "You were face to face. There's plenty of time for you to find a way out of being bitten... I'll show you when the fight is over," Buffy said, motioning Angel over to her.

She took his head in her hand, and brought him down to her neck.

The Slayers gasped. It's not like he was biting her, but she had let him so close.

Angel laughed quietly as he planted a kiss on Buffy's neck (he knew none of the Slayers could see.)

Angel caught her off guard, it was sweet. Buffy had to catch her breath.

Buffy pulled herself together, then addressed the girls again. "_That's_ when the fight would be over, but for today we'll say fight's over when you're cheek to cheek. Got it?"

The girls nodded.

Buffy shot Angel a smile, and then went back to her watching spot.

It was a rare opportunity to just sit back and watch the action, especially with Angel involved since she was so used to fighting with him there, never really having time to just watch him. She sat back against the wall. It was nice just to watch him, doing anything really. She suddenly felt a familiar fear rising inside of her, the fear of losing him. The feeling was scary. Something was telling her that she was going to lose Angel.

_Don't ever let him go away. I love him too much. I want him with me always. I don't know what I would do if he wasn't here anymore._

Buffy apparently got lost in thought, because when she realized what was going on, the girls were heading out the door, and Oz, Riley and Sam were coming into the gym.

Was it already 6 p.m? Man, time had flown by.

"What are you guys doing here?" Buffy asked the others.

"We're taking care of patrol for tonight," Oz told her.

"Oh, okay. Cool," Buffy said. "I gotta go see Dawnie anyway... Have fun tonight."

"Dawn wants to show you something, by the way," Sam said with a smile.

"I think I'll join you guys," Spike said.

"Yeah, me too," Angel piped in. He didn't want to intrude on Buffy and Dawn time.

Buffy gave him a wink and headed upstairs to find Dawn and Shayla.

"Dawnie, Shayla?" Buffy called out.

Giles popped his head out of the library. "In here," he said.

"Hey guys," Buffy said, walking into the library. "So I hear you have something to show me, Dawn."

"I do," she said with a small smile. "Giles, would you please throw that stapler at me?" Dawn asked.

Buffy raised her eyebrow.

"Sure," Giles said.

Buffy was going to ask what was wrong with everyone, but shut her mouth once she saw what was going on.

The stapler never made it to Dawn. It was blasted backwards. Dawn had stopped it and put it in reverse with a few simple words and a gesture of her hand.

Buffy's jaw dropped a little bit.

Dawn saw this and gave a little smile.

"After what happened with the guy, I was feeling really messed up," Dawn said to Buffy. "I was practicing magic before, but I stopped when you got back so we could do the whole research group thing, except for when I tried to rush the research but I shouldn't have stopped... If I had practiced more I think I could have made sure that what happened to me wouldn't have happened... I woke up this morning and I started to practice again, and Shayla has been watching me, so I promise I haven't been getting in too deep... I can't do anything really big, but if I keep practicing I'll be able to do more."

Buffy grinned at her sister. "Now we can both throw things across the room.

"Yeah, but so far it only works on small objects."

"Yeah, but that's still amazing, Dawnie," Buffy said. "You know what, I'm thinking maybe you shouldn't have to do research anymore, I mean, you could be practicing this instead," she said to Dawn. "I know you told me that your thing is mostly healing and magic involving the body, but I have a feeling you were being a bit modest," Buffy said to Shayla. "If you're willing, I'm sure Dawn would love for you to help her out with the magic thing on a more regular basis. We know you, and no offence, you're a bit nicer than the witches from England."

"I would be glad to help her out," Shayla smiled.

"Okay, this all sounds great," Dawn said, "but we'll still have to do some research, it's not fair to shove it all on everyone else."

"I'd hate to say this, but I don't know how much more the research can really help us," Giles sighed. "Though I think still attempting to find new information is important. I just don't think that needs to be the priority anymore, training and learning to defend ourselves however we can, is. For tonight however, let's make the research the priority, one more time."

"Okay then, let's hit the books now," Buffy said, "I'm still wide awake."

o

The researching had absolutely no results. No new information was found and Buffy was left with a headache and major annoyance.

More than once tonight, Buffy had run for the washroom, throwing up, just as she did mere moments ago. Now, she was walking back to the library.

"Shayla, this throwing up all the time stuff is gross," Buffy complained.

Dawn, Giles, and Shayla laughed softly.

"You're pregnant, throwing up is normal... I also forgot to tell you the other night in the midst of all the craziness, but when I healed you and the baby up, I sensed that your pregnancy is advancing quicker than normal," Shayla said

"How can that be?" Buffy asked, then shook her head. "Never mind," she laughed. "Nothing about this is normal, why do I even ask?"

"So how did the training go today?" Giles asked Buffy.

"The slayers didn't like Angel and Spike being there too much, but I think it went pretty well by the end," Buffy answered. "I think I'm gonna have them there more often. And I'll get Sam and Riley in on it too. Oh, and Shayla, I was wondering if you and Oz would mind maybe joining in with the training, you know, when the moon's full."

Shayla grinned. "Like this, I'm no fighter, but yeah, when the full moon hits that's a different story, count me and Oz in for some night-time training."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm totally beat," Dawn said with a yawn. "I'm gonna get some sleep."

"I'm gonna head down to the gym. I know I was there almost all day, but I really didn't do much," Buffy said.

"Sleep is totally calling my name," Shayla said.

"I'll be awake for awhile yet," Giles said.

"Have fun Giles. Nighty-night Dawnie, Shayla," Buffy said, heading down to the gym.

Buffy took off her sweater as she began to stretch her body out. She stretched for a good five minutes, and then headed straight for the punching bag, assaulting the inanimate object for God knows how long, both with punches and kicks. But it didn't satisfy her. She wanted to _stake_ something. She had been feeling uneasy and scared about Angel all day, even though she had no reason to be, and she just wanted to destroy something.

Buffy called for her stake which was immediately brought into her hands.

Without even looking, Buffy sent the stake flying towards the target on the wall. What she didn't expect was to hear someone's voice, Angel's voice.

"What the hell?"

"Oh my God!" Buffy screamed. "Stake," she yelled desperately, calling the weapon back to her in mid-flight, before it could hit Angel.

She felt the stake back in her hands. "Thank God," she mumbled, and then fell to the floor crying.

Angel ran to her.

"I almost killed you," Buffy sobbed. "I didn't see you. Oh my God, I almost killed you... I'm sorry," she said hysterically.

It's like her nightmares were coming true.

"Hey, come on," Angel said softly. "I'm fine, see."

"I almost killed you, _again_."

"Don't do that to yourself, Buffy. That was a long time ago. It was the _right_ thing to do. I will _never_ blame you for that... And look at me, I'm not dead now. Hey, listen, even if the stake would have hit me, you don't need to worry about me, remember," Angel said, showing Buffy the Gem of Amarra.

Buffy looked down at the ring, and sighed from relief. She began to breathe again.

She had been so scared that she almost killed him. That wasn't something that could happen. She could not, would not, lose him. Her emotions were heightened lately, she knew it was the hormones and stuff, but they only really exaggerated on emotions that were already there. She always had that secret fear that somehow, some way, Angel would be taken from her. That thought always scared her beyond belief, but now they were going to have a baby, and all the emotions seemed to be multiplied ten-fold.

She wrapped her arms around him, and didn't want to let go.

"I want you with me _always_," she whispered to him. "I want you here."

Angel held her close. "I'm not going anywhere," he reassured her.

He could tell that she was seriously freaked out. She had just broken down. He knew she worried about him, but she was never this obvious about it. He kissed her forehead, then her cheeks, then her wrists, and finally her lips.

"I'm here. I'm with you," he whispered in her ear.


	30. Chapter 30

oooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter.

Weeks later...

"_You're happy, are you not, Liam, or Angel, as it is now?" a voice asked._

"_Who are you? Where are you?" Angel asked._

"_I am one of the Powers. I'm one of the ones who has been sending friends to you and your love in dreams... I'm here, but you cannot see me... Now please answer my_ _question."_

"_Yes, I'm happy," Angel answered._

"_Almost purely happy," the voice said with a knowing tone._

"_Pretty damn close," Angel admitted._

"_I would imagine so, even in the midst of the possibility the world could be ending... You're with the love of your life, and she's carrying your child... We've given you both the_ _impossible, you do realize this,_ _yes?" the voice asked._

"_Yes."_

"_And you're thankful for this?"_

"_Very."_

"_Maybe a bit angry also, correct?" the voice asked._

"_Yes," Angel admitted._

"_It almost seems cruel, does it not, for you to be this happy, and have the gypsy curse loom over your head?"_

"_I'm beyond grateful for what I have, but it does seem cruel all the same, sometimes."_

"_Now that much of the sadness is gone, you have to watch yourself with your Slayer love. You fear that moment of perfect happiness. You fear losing your soul again. You're_ _terrified of reverting back to Angelus."_

"_Of course I'm terrified of that. I'm sure you remember what happened. That can _never_ happen again," Angel said._

"_What part?"_

"_What do you mean, what part? All of it," Angel said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I can never hurt Buffy like that again, I _won't_... I still see her face_ _after all this time, I remember how scared she was at first, how much I hurt her. And the things I said to her... Sometimes I wonder how she can even look at me, how she_ _can still love me after everything. I don't know how she's forgiven me. I don't deserve her. I really know I don't deserve her. She's too good for me, but I'm selfish. I can't_ not _be with her, not anymore."_

"_Angelus did those things, not you."_

"_Well, he did it in my body and all the memories are in my head, so it pretty much was me... I can't let that happen again. I can't make her have to kill me again, and that's_ _what she'd have to do if I'd lose my soul again. She would have to kill me. I remember her face, oh God, how I remember her face on the day she plunged that sword_ _through my chest. The sorrow and agony, I don't ever want to see her like that again. I can't ever hurt her like that again... Why are you here?" Angel asked finally. "Why_ _are you bringing up bad memories?"_

"_We gave you a gift. We have one more. We haven't made things easy on you, it has been a tough journey, but you've done great good in this world. You deserve another_ _gift, a chance to be truly happy. You deserve to be happy before you leave this world."_

"_Are you saying I'm going to die soon?" Angel asked._

"_What I mean is that there is a good chance that this world could be no more in the coming months, and if that truly is the case, you deserve the chance to enjoy what's_ _left of your life without consequence," the voice said, almost sounding nervous. "The Powers remove your gypsy curse. Your soul is intact and it will_ _not leave you. No more consequences. Angelus will not return... Goodbye now."_

And with that, the voice was gone.

"Did that just happen?" Angel asked himself quietly. "It must have been a dream."

"No it wasn't," Buffy said, turning over in the bed to face him. "Not unless we had the same dream."

"You heard that?" Angel asked.

"I did," Buffy said softly. "He said your curse is gone."

"So you heard that too?"

"Yeah, I did," she smiled. "That's some amazing news, wouldn't you say?"

Angel nodded.

"I heard everything you guys said. I heard everything _you_ said... Don't say that you don't deserve me, and don't ever say you're not good enough, because you _do _ and you _are._.. I've put the whole Angelus past behind me, you should do the same thing. I forgave you a _long _time ago, Angel. I _know _ that wasn't you," Buffy whispered.

"You _never_ would have hurt me like that, never. I'm the Slayer, yet you still are there with me, looking out for me, playing _protector_, not _destroyer_... There aren't many things in this world that I'm sure of, but you're one of the few. I'm sure of you... Angelus went after my friends, but you, you've always helped _protect _my friends and my family, you didn't have to do that, but you did that for me. You are _good _and you are kind, and you have proven those things so many times. That's why I love you, okay?" Buffy said.

"Okay," Angel answered quietly.

"Good," Buffy said, putting her head on his chest. "Good," she whispered, kissing his skin softly. "Now let's go back to sleep, it's not even 2 am, and I'm absolutely beat... Tomorrow is gonna be a beautiful day, but it's not here yet. So close your eyes. Let's just rest, God knows how much I need it" she said quietly, closing her eyes.

Angel hadn't actually slept in quite awhile, but tonight, his worries were gone. The curse was gone, and Buffy was with him. For the first time in awhile, Angel could sleep soundly.


	31. Chapter 31

oooooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review please.

2 weeks later...

"Son of a bitch," Buffy hissed, as she was thrown off the roof by three vampires.

Buffy tried to steady herself midair- hoping to land on her feet, but she wasn't so sure that would happen. It was a really long fall.

"You're _so _gonna be sorry when I get back up there," she yelled on her way down.

"We'll be long gone before you can get back up here," one of the vamps taunted.

Just as Buffy prepared to hit the ground, someone caught her before she went SPLAT!

"Angel," Buffy smiled. "You've got good timing. Thanks for breaking my fall," she said, giving him a quick kiss, before jumping back into the tree and back onto the roof.

"I thought you losers said you would be long gone? I'm back and you're still here. Do you know what that means?" she asked in a falsely sweet voice, as she pulled out two stakes. Before they could answer, Buffy staked two of them, and the other ran for his life, jumping off the roof.

Buffy was gonna jump down after him, but Angel yelled, "Don't bother, I've got this moron."

Before the vamp could run far, Angel tackled him to the ground with ease, and plunged a stake through his heart.

"That was fun," Buffy said, as she made her way back down to solid ground. "Did you catch those other two vamps from back in the park?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Yeah, they were seriously stupid. Easiest staking I've ever done... Do you wanna hang around here some more? I don't think we really need to, though," Angel told her.

"Nah, let's get out of here. I don't think we'll have anymore trouble tonight," Buffy said. "We have so much to do before tomorrow, and you're sure Dawnie's gone for the night, right?"

"Yeah, Shayla and Spike took her out just before we left, and they're gonna make up some excuse to Dawn as to why they can't make it back to the Fortress tonight. We're good. We can get everything done tonight."

"I want this to be perfect for her. I want her to have a really good birthday. I want her to just have a day without researching or having to practice magic, a day just for a bit of fun. I don't know how many more of those any of us have left," Buffy said, as they walked back to the Fortress.

"She'll have a good day tomorrow, I promise," Angel said.

"She deserves it," Buffy told him. "We all deserve it. It's probably the last bit of freedom and relaxation we're gonna have."

"Oh yeah, we're gonna have a full house soon. I forgot," Angel said.

"Oz's pack is coming in five days and we've got the witches coming in the next week or two... All I have to say is thank God for the Fortress. It's bigger than any mansion I've seen... Do you realize that when everyone finally comes, we'll have at least 50 people staying at the Fortress and that's not including the Slayers. That is not going to be comfortable living," Buffy said.

Angel laughed. "How many Slayers do you actually have?" he asked.

"Well, here in Rome, I've got about a hundred. And because Giles is such a genius and has ways to find out and contact just about anyone, I know there's at least another 200 out there somewhere. Giles is trying to make contact with as many as possible to help us."

"You actually have a hundred Slayers here?"

"Yeah, but they don't all come at once. We rotate days around," Buffy explained.

"That makes sense," Angel said, holding open the Fortress doors for Buffy.

"And they say chivalry is dead," Buffy grinned, walking in before Angel.

"Okay, before I tell you what happened, you have to promise not to throw anything at me," Riley said as soon as Buffy walked in the door.

"Oh come on, Riley. Don't tell me something happened with the cake," Buffy asked worriedly.

"Well," Sam said, piping in. "You know how we were supposed to pick it up tonight, right?"

"Right," Buffy sighed. "Well, we went over there and apparently there was no record of anyone ordering a cake for Dawn's birthday, and the guy told us he couldn't make us one for tomorrow because he was too busy."

"That's a bunch of bull, I ordered her cake myself," Buffy said. "Who was the person you talked to?"

"His name was Adriano," Riley said.

"Jackass," Buffy said angrily. "He's being a prick because I turned him down when he asked me out months ago... I know how to make it right, I'm gonna go give the dumbass a visit."

"That's not gonna work, the place has been closed for like 3 hours," Sam said.

"That's right," Buffy realized. "This is not good, okay. I want everything to be perfect, it can't be perfect without a cake. I need a cake. And we still have to decorate and wrap presents and get all the other food ready for tomorrow," Buffy complained.

"Well, I can't bake a cake to save my life, but you can count me in for helping out with the other stuff," Oz said, coming down the stairs.

"Same goes for me," Giles said, coming down behind Oz.

"Okay, how about this," Sam said. "Buffy, you and Angel, find a way to make a cake, and we'll all take care of everything else."

"Why are me and Angel stuck with the cake?" Buffy pouted.

"Well based on what Giles and Oz have said, plus my own knowledge of Sam and my own baking skills, we would be no help. That leaves you and Angel."

"Okay then," Buffy sighed. "Let's all go our separate ways," Buffy said, grabbing Angel's hand and heading to the kitchen.

"Okay, so Angel, do you have any secret baking talents you've been hiding from me all these years?" Buffy joked.

"Not really...Sorry," he said.

"Okay, ummm. Well let's see if we at least have anything to make a cake with. Then we'll worry about the part where we can't bake... I'm pretty sure I remember seeing cake-type stuff in here. Could you check the other cupboards please?" Buffy said.

"Yeah, sure."

"Yes, yes, yes," Buffy said cheerily. "This looks like cake stuff."

"I found icing, and you've got some sprinkly things in here too," Angel said.

"Okay, this is good... If only I knew what the hell do to make these things into an actual cake," she sighed. "Ooh, Ooh. We might not be screwed," Buffy said hopefully. "It all depends on you," she told Angel.

"No pressure," Angel joked.

"You've got this crazy memory, it's like photographic. Do you think you could remember something if you tried hard enough?" Buffy asked.

"Probably, what are you thinking?" he answered.

"I just remembered it right now... Mom's birthday was right around the corner, and I was totally broke, and of course Dawn was still pretty young, so she didn't really have money. We wanted to get mom something or do something nice, but we couldn't really do anything. Then me and Dawn came up with the idea to try to make her a cake from this old family recipe that we absolutely loved, but we couldn't remember where the recipe was, we needed help finding it," Buffy said.

"I remember that now," Angel said with a grin.

"I came over to your place. I told you I needed your help," Buffy continued.

"You looked so nervous, and you were asking for help. You scared me for a second back then, I thought something was after you," Angel said.

"I needed you to help me find the recipe. And you did, it was in the attic where me and Dawn _so_ did not want to go. Spiders, eww. Turns out we didn't need it though, because Giles took pity on us and brought over a cake for my mother instead... Anyway, do you think you can remember that recipe? Cuz if I have instructions I'm pretty sure we can pull off making a cake."

"What colour was the paper?" Angel asked her.

"Pink and the writing was in black pen," Buffy said excitedly. "Please, please, be my hero and remember the recipe."

Angle chuckled. "You've got to give me a couple minutes, Buffy."

"Okay, while I let you think, I'm gonna go grab a pen, just in case you remember, then you can write it down," Buffy said, leaving to find a pen and piece of paper.

A couple minutes later Buffy came back into the kitchen. "Sooo," she said, hesitantly.

Angel just broke into a grin. "Your sister will have a birthday cake after all."

Buffy flung herself right into Angel's arms. "Yes. Yes. I love you. I love you. I love you... Thank you so much," she said, practically singing. "You are the _best._ Thank you."

"You're _very_ welcome," he laughed.

"Okay, here, write it down please. We've got to get cracking," Buffy said, back to business, passing him the pen and paper.

Angel wrote down the recipe, and passed it to Buffy.

"Okay, you grab the stuff at the top of the shelf, because you're taller, and I have no energy to jump up there. I'll get the stuff on the lower shelves."

Once all the ingredients were out, Buffy grabbed some baking pans too. It didn't take too long, following the directions for the cake to be made and put into the oven.

"I hope to God that it's gonna turn out," Buffy said. "Now we've got to wait for an hour."

Suddenly a grin spread across her face. She picked up the bowl that she had mixed all the ingredients in, and flicked the mixture at Angel.

"You did not just do that," Angel said.

"I _so _ did. Whatchya gonna do about it?" she teased, running away from Angel.

"This," Angel laughed as he chased her around the kitchen.

Buffy was laughing so much that she had to stop running. Angel grabbed her around the waist playfully.

"You got my shirt all dirty," he said.

"Not a problem, I think I like the shirt better off of you anyways," she smirked, undoing some of his buttons.

"Hey, if you want my bod, all you have to do is ask," Angel joked. "I'd be absolutely happy to oblige," he said, in between kissing Buffy, and unbuttoning her top.

Before Buffy or Angel noticed, Sam walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, whoa. Sorry," she stammered.

"Hi Sam," Buffy sighed.

"Hi guys," she mumbled.

Angel tried to hold in his laughter.

"Phone's for you, Buffy," Sam said, passing her the cordless. "It's Dawn."

"Hello."

"Buffy?"

"Dawn, where are you guys? Are you okay? I've been flipping out over here," Buffy said, feigning worry, so her sister wouldn't know about the birthday plan.

"Listen, everything's fine. It's just, we kind of got stuck. I don't think we'll be able to make it back until like tomorrow afternoon. It's lucky that Angel let Spike borrow the Gem or else Spike would probably fry tomorrow."

"So you're fine then?"

"Yeah," Dawn anwered.

"Let me talk to Shayla for a minute, okay?"

"Hi Buffy," Shayla said. "How's everything over there?"

"I think it'll all be okay," Buffy answered. "As long as you stay away for the night."

"We'll be back tomorrow afternoon," Shayla said.

"Sounds good. See you guys tomorrow," Buffy said hanging up the phone.

"Okay, that's all I came down for," Sam said, taking the phone back. "I'm going now. You two, go ahead, continue whatever you were doing. I'm so out of here," she said, rushing out the door.

Buffy and Angel burst out laughing.

"She has really bad timing," Buffy said

"She's gone now," Angel said, picking up where they had left off.

"That's a very, very, good thing," Buffy said, barely above a whisper, as more and more clothes began to come off.

If Angel was still burdened with his gypsy curse, he was sure Angelus would be making an appearance right about now. Lying on the kitchen floor he looked over at Buffy who grinned back at him. It was bliss.

"I'm glad we could find something to do to occupy the time while we wait for the cake," Angel joked.

Buffy leaned over and kissed him, laughing.

"That was a very efficient use of our time, I must say," she grinned.

This time, Buffy and Angel heard the footsteps.

"Shit," Buffy laughed. "Don't come in yet," she said, scrambling for her clothes.

She threw Angel his pants, and grabbed her own, practically jumping into them. She couldn't find her sweater anywhere, so she just threw on her little tank top.

Angel's shirt was full of cake mixture so he just threw on his white t-shirt.

"Okay, you can come in," Buffy said sweetly.

Giles walked in the kitchen with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, there was a big spill on the floor, and I wanted to clean it up to make sure that you wouldn't slip," Buffy said, trying not to laugh.

"Oh yes, I'm sure that's _exactly_ what happened," Giles said sarcastically, shaking his head. "Anyways, I only came down to grab a sandwich. I'm rather hungry. I'll be gone in a few minutes, if you wish to, uh, continue cleaning up the spill."

Angel could not look at Buffy because if he did he knew he would burst into laughter. Buffy put her fist in her mouth to block her own oncoming laughter. Giles noticed this and just smiled as he fixed his sandwich. After a minute or two, he was ready to go.

"Honestly, you two, spill on the floor? You couldn't come up with something better than that?" he joked.

Buffy and Angel kept straight faces.

"Ah, no matter," Giles said. "Be happy," he said, patting Buffy's hand. "You deserve it, my girl."

And suddenly Buffy felt a rush of love and appreciation for her watcher wash over her. Just as he was about to leave, she ran over and gave him a big hug. He hugged her back.

"I will see you two tomorrow morning," Giles said, finally leaving.

Angel smiled at the interaction. Buffy loved Giles like her father, and that was just as well because Buffy's actual father played virtually no role in either of his daughters' lives. Angel looked to Buffy and realized that she must just have thought the same thing, because as soon as Giles was out the door, her whole expression changed. Buffy now looked like she was fighting back tears.

"Buffy," Angel said soflty.

"Don't worry about me. Freakin' hormones are making me too emotional," she said wiping her eyes.

"Have you talked to him lately?" Angel asked.

"Giles?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Your dad," Angel said.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"I know you," Angel answered simply.

"I haven't talked to him in over a year. He's such a jackass. And Giles just reminded me of how big a loser my father is... Me and Dawn, we don't need him. He left us a long time ago, but my God, would it kill him to call and check if his girls are still even alive every once in awhile? I shouldn't be surprised, though, he didn't even come to my mother's funeral... _You _ came for me and we weren't even together, but you came for me, and him, my own father, didn't come for his daughters at their mother's funeral. I don't think I will ever forgive him for that. And to add onto his jackass status he didn't call for Dawn today."

"Maybe he's waiting until tomorrow?"

"No, he always used to call her the day before her birthday... He didn't bother to call on mine either... I don't even know why I bothered calling him after that ."

"You called him?"

"Yeah, a couple days after I found out I was pregnant. I know he doesn't really even deserve to know, but I thought hey, as pathetic as he is, he's still my dad. I should tell him that he's gonna have a granddaughter... Anyway, I call and his secretary answers, the one I know he's been doing for years now, anyway I ask for my dad and she says that he's busy. I tell her that it's me and she still tells me he's busy and can she take a message, so I burst out and tell her 'well you can tell dear old dad that his daughter's pregnant'... He has never called me back. That was it for me, I give up on that man. All I have to say is thank God for Giles. He's more of my father than Hank Summers ever was... Whoa, sorry for the rant. Just digging up some stupid memories."

"It's not stupid," Angel told her. "It's not stupid to want your dad to actually act like one... But let me tell you something. It's his loss, it really is. You and your sister are probably better off without him. You guys are strong. You've made it through everything without him. If he doesn't care enough to check in on the girls that he calls his daughters, he doesn't deserve you. And after he knows you're pregnant and still doesn't call you back, that's not somebody who's worth your tears."

"Don't I know it," Buffy said, giving Angel a quick hug. "You're gonna be so much better than him, Angel. I already know that... This baby is gonna be loved."

"She's already loved," Angel told her.

Buffy smiled. "She really is."

Buffy walked over and looked in at the cake through the oven door.

"Ow," Buffy said suddenly.

"What's up?" Angel asked, coming to her side.

Buffy broke out in a grin. "Give me your hand."

She took Angel's hand and placed it on her stomach. It wasn't very noticeable with a sweater on, but like this, you could tell that Buffy had gained a bit of weight from being pregnant.

"Now wait a second," Buffy said, keeping his hand there.

"Do you feel that?" she laughed happily. "She's kicking."

"Oh my God," Angel said.

"Yeah," Buffy said.

Angel got down on his knees, and put his ear to Buffy's stomach.

"I can hear her heart beating, Buffy," he said.

"No way," Buffy said.

"Yes way," he laughed.

"That's crazy," Buffy said with a laugh.

"No, it's beautiful," Angel said, kissing her stomach softly.

Buffy felt herself begin to cry again, but not in a bad way. "This girl is gonna make a big bawling baby out of me," Buffy laughed.

"Blame it on the hormones," Angel offered with a grin.


	32. Chapter 32

ooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Hope you like it. Review please.

Buffy had slept for maybe four hours, but she was awake again and the sun was now up, as was the rest of the Fortress.

Buffy, Angel, Giles, Riley, Sam, and Oz were all gathered in the library which had been wonderfully decorated.

"You guys did a good job. This place looks great," Buffy said.

"The cake looks good too," Oz commented.

"Yeah, let's hope it tastes great," Angel said.

"They should be getting back soon," Sam said, looking out the window.

"Spike called about an hour ago. He said to give them like an hour and a half. So, they should be here in half an hour."

"Or now," Giles said. "Spike was off by half an hour, I see all three of them now."

"Everybody hide, turn off the lights," Buffy said hurriedly.

After a minute or two, footsteps were heard coming up the stairs.

"I wanted to show you this book in the library, Dawn, come with me," Shayla said, leading Dawn and Spike into the library.

That's when the lights turned on and everyone shouted "Happy Birthday Dawn!"

A big smile spread across Dawn's face.

"You remembered," she said.

"Of course we remembered," Buffy said, coming over to hug her sister.

"Thank you," Dawn said. "All of you..."

Dawn turned to Spike and Shayla. "You were in on it, weren't you?"

They nodded.

"Okay, stop with the talking, and start with the eating and opening presents," Riley said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I agree with the big guy," Buffy said. "Eat and open presents."

"Those are two things I have absolutely no problem doing," Dawn laughed.

The next few hours were spent eating, laughing, opening presents and just having a good time. And the cake had turned out great!

By the end, Dawn had gift cards and CD's galore from Giles, Riley and Sam, Oz and Shayla and Spike, a rare book that she couldn't believe Angel found and bought for her, new shoes, and a wicked awesome dress from Buffy.

"Thank you guys, so much," she said gratefully.

o

Later on in the day as they were all cleaning up, Shayla and Dawn pulled Buffy aside.

"What's up?" Buffy said.

"While we were gone, me and Shayla were thinking about you, and we decided something."

"What would that be?" Buffy asked.

"We're gonna deliver your baby," Shayla said.

"You can't go to the hospital because they won't believe you're pregnant in the first place, plus I've been reading up on mid-wives and stuff like that, and Shayla's got the whole body magic and healing thing going on. Who better to deliver the baby?" Dawn said.

"Honestly, I don't think there's anyone better," Buffy said thankfully. "Thank you. That's really sweet."

"Shay, didn't you say the pack wasn't coming for at least a few more days?" Oz asked.

"That's what Dayna had told me," Shayla answered.

"Well apparently there's a change of plan. That was Dayna and she said they'd all be here by tomorrow."

"What?" Buffy said. "That's too soon. We didn't get anything ready for anyone."

"Sorry," Oz said.

"What do you need us to do?" Riley asked coming over to Buffy.

"We need to get out all the mattresses and stuff from the storage room, and we really need to go shopping. We need to buy major supplies of food," Buffy said.

"I call shopping duty," Dawn said.

"Me too," Sam said.

"Me too," Shayla piped in.

"I think I could do with a bit of fresh air myself," Oz said.

"I need to pick up a couple books, so I'll come along also," Giles said.

"Looks like it's just us, boys," Buffy said to Angel, Riley, and Spike.

"Well, I guess we'll see you later," Dawn said.

"Oooh, don't forget to buy me the chocolate cheesecake Dawnie. And could you grab some marshmallows for me too, and maybe some perogies, okay?" Buffy said.

Everyone turned to stare at Buffy.

"What?" she said.

Dawn laughed. "She's entitled to her cravings."

"Thank you, and that is why you are my favourite sister, Dawnie."

"Because you've got so many more sisters out there, right?" Dawn teased.

"Who knows, there might be more. Dad's probably been busy," Buffy said.

"Oh shut up, Buffy. Don't make me barf," Dawn said pretending to gag.

"Go shop now," Buffy laughed, dismissing the shopping crew with her hand.

They left, and Buffy was alone with Riley, Spike and Angel.

This was a bit weird. All the guys tolerated each other, but she knew none of them were too crazy about each other

"We should probably split up into pairs. That way we can take on two rooms of mattresses at once," Buffy suggested.

"Mind if I pair with you Slayer? I need to talk to you anyway," Spike said.

"Sure," Buffy said hesitantly. "Let's start moving."

Buffy sneaked a look at Angel. He looked a bit jealous, but other than that, he didn't say anything. He was good that way, he didn't try to interfere in her business.

When they got downstairs, Buffy showed them the rooms where the mattresses were stored.

"Let's empty these two rooms out. We'll just bring them upstairs to the spare rooms," Buffy said, walking into the first room with Spike following her.

"So, you said you wanted to talk."

"Apologize really," Spike said. "For back in England. I was stupid."

"Things are fine Spike, we settled this back there. We're good," she told him.

"I still love you, Buffy."

"No. Spike. Take that back, please," Buffy said.

"Hear me out Slayer... I'm gonna love you for a long time, but I know you don't feel the same way, so I'm gonna be good. After today, I promise you'll hear no more 'I love you's' from me. I just had to say it one more time."

"But no more?" Buffy asked.

"I promise... I'm only doing it because I respect you, Slayer, and because I finally get it. I kept hearing you say that you loved Angel, but it never got through... It's gotten through now. I see you with him, and you look at him in a way that you've never looked at me or old Farm Boy out there, either. And you're having a baby, with him. I have to draw the line somewhere. And I did, I promise.

"I'm here for whatever you need, as your friend, the only thing I could ever be, besides your enemy with Angel in the picture... I know you can kick both our asses, but if he ever hurts you, you let me know, and I'll take him down for you."

"You know he won't," Buffy said softly.

"Yeah, I do know that," Spike admitted. "I just had to say something macho."

Buffy gave him a little laugh.

"Peaches isn't so bad, honestly. But don't ever tell him I said that, or I will deny every word."

"It'll be our little secret," Buffy assured him with a grin.

"So, Buffy and a baby, huh?" Spike said.

"Yep."

"I don't think I've said it, but congratulations," Spike told her.

"Thank you," she smiled gratefully.

"She's gonna be one hell of a little girl," Spike said.

"Let's hope we make it through the big evil so that you can meet my girl, eh?" Buffy said.

"Beating the big bad sounds like a plan," Spike said, lifting up one side of the mattress while Buffy grabbed the other.

In the other room, Angel and Riley were already half-way out the door with their mattress when Angel stopped and stared at Buffy and Spike in the next room.

"Come on, man. Let's get this upstairs," Riley said. "After everything. After all of us, she picked you... You don't need to worry about whatever he's saying to her because we're here now, and she picked you."

Angel looked at Riley, and for once, it was without any sort of negative feelings. He appreciated the comment. He gave Riley a nod and continued on with bringing the mattress upstairs.

After a couple hours all the mattresses were brought upstairs and the four individuals rested in the library, and the air was actually not full of tension, much to Buffy's delight.

"Rona and Kennedy are taking care of training for tomorrow, but it's me the next day. Anyway, I want all three of you to help with the training again, if you don't mind. I want everyone in this place in on it, if not to improve their strength, at least learn how to defend themselves better."

"Whatever you want," Spike said. "As long as it's tomorrow. Old Spike here's in the mood to just rest his head on this lovely table for a little while."

"You know I'm in," Angel said.

"Count me and Sam in too. She's been itching to train with you guys for weeks now," Riley laughed.

"Oh yeah, full moon's coming and I can't wait. I'm gonna have the pack in on training too, as werewolves."

Riley raised his eyebrow.

"They can control themselves. The change doesn't control them," Buffy explained.

"Oh, okay," Riley said. "That's cool then."

Buffy laughed. She looked around and saw that Angel and Spike were doing the same. It was nice to be just sitting here laughing together, pushing all the history aside.

Buffy was only sad because the very big possibility of the world ending and all of them dying, was what made this nice experience happen.


	33. Chapter 33

ooooooooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy.

It had been a more than month since Dawn's birthday party and the Fortress was now a full house. The werewolves were there, and so were the witches.

Buffy and the guys had torn down one of the walls downstairs to make the gym bigger for training, since there was nearly one hundred people in there each day.

Right now, everybody was training, minus Buffy who had left to quietly run to the washroom to throw up. She'd join the others again in a few minutes. She was sore, nothing unbearable, but still sore, but it had nothing to do with training. She looked down at her chest, she was still surprised every time she did that, her breasts had gotten much bigger. It was weird. But mostly it was just sore, she felt pain in her chest quite often, it was just a nuisance.

Buffy shook herself off and went out to rejoin everyone. Buffy liked how it was going. Everyone was fighting everyone. Witches against Slayers, Werewolves against vampires, Riley and Sam against some Slayers, Dawn against Shayla, Giles against some witches.

This was good training. This is what you would call excellent experience.

Just as she was about to get back in the mix, Buffy heard someone call out her name. She turned to see who it was but there was nobody there.

"You can't see me, little warrior," the voice said. "Come out in the hall. I have some things to say to you."

Buffy listened and went out into the hall, closing the gym door behind her.

"Do you know who I am, Buffy?" the voice asked.

"Are you one of the Powers?" she asked.

"That would be correct... So I see everyone is working hard over here."

"Yeah, we all kind of have this desire to win and live, you know. That kind of makes everyone work hard."

"You have not lost your sarcasm or wit, Miss Summers," the voice said with a sound of laughter.

"That's just me," Buffy answered.

"I have come with information for you," the voice said.

"What is it?"

"The battle will commence in three months exactly ."

"How do you know?"

"We have ways of finding out things, even if it takes a long time to do so... I have given you the information you need. I will leave now."

"Wait," Buffy said.

"Yes?"

"You removed Angel's curse out of the goodness of your heart, right? That was something big, I mean screwing with the Gypsy's magic... There's no other reason, like you planning on taking him away from me, right?" Buffy asked.

"Just be happy while you can, Buffy. You don't need to question every little detail. Goodbye," the voice said.

Buffy didn't know how to take his words, but what she did know is that she had a date. She had an exact date of what could be the beginning of their end.

Buffy went back in the gym and pulled Giles aside.

"What is it?" he asked.

"This is all going down in three months," Buffy said.

"How do you know?"

"One of the Powers came to me," Buffy said. "That's how I know."

"I think we should let everyone know," Giles said.

"Me too. Just wanted to let you know first," Buffy said.

"Thank you," Giles said.

"Everybody, listen up," Buffy yelled. "I know when this war is going down, and you all should know too. In three months from now, we'll be fighting to save the world... So there you go...Umm, let's keep training," Buffy said, joining her Slayers.

By the end of the day, it looked like the crew had been in a bar-room brawl. Almost everyone was at least a bit bloody, or at the very least, bruised. After Buffy's announcement, everyone just seemed to fight that much harder.

Buffy picked up a wet cloth and called her sister over to her.

"Yeah," Dawn said.

Buffy just wiped off Dawn's bloody head with the cloth. "You were awesome today Dawnie," Buffy said.

"You're getting really good with the magic. I saw you send Giles flying into the wall."

"I've been practicing."

"I can tell," Buffy said.

"I still can't believe you though, Buffy. You're still in there training everyday, even though I can tell you're not feeling that great. And honestly, you're better than all of us, you're entitled to a break," Dawn said.

Buffy just patted her sister on the shoulder. "You're sweet, but when there's training going on, there's no break for me. Now that it's over though, a break sounds very nice. I think I'm gonna hit the sack early. Angel and Spike are gonna take over patrol tonight," Buffy yawned.

"You're not in pain, though, right?" Dawn asked.

"Just my boobs," Buffy said, making Dawn laugh. "Mostly I'm just tired and a bit nauseous, but that's nothing to worry about when we fight. When we fight, I shove everything else aside. But there's no fighting now, so I'm just gonna go curl up in bed until tomorrow."

"Goodnight then," Dawn said.

"Nighty night," Buffy said, heading upstairs.

Buffy changed into a tank top and shorts and crawled onto the bed. She was exhausted, but it was her own fault, she hadn't slept at all in two days. She would train with the girls during the day and then she would patrol all night and not sleep when she came back. All she could focus on was the upcoming war and how they didn't know when it would creep up on them, but now she knew, and she still didn't feel any better.

Here, in the dark, alone, Buffy could admit that she was scared. What if they lost? Buffy wasn't ready to _not _be here anymore. Buffy wasn't ready not to see her sister smile or hear Giles sigh, or watch Angel just stare at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Buffy wanted to see her baby born... And another thing, she didn't know why, but she was feeling paranoid. God knew she was _so happy_ that Angel's curse had been removed, but she thought there were other reasons behind it than simply wanting Angel to have some happiness. This bugged her, but she pushed it out of her mind for now. Buffy put on a brave face to everyone, but she was scared.

'Being scared isn't gonna win the war. Fighting and kicking ass like I always do, that will,' Buffy told herself.

Buffy shook her head, sending the fear away. She had to be a warrior. She had to be Buffy, the Slayer. If she did this, she convinced herself, everything would be fine.

She curled up on her side, and finally met some sleep for the first time in days.

Angel got back about four hours later, not surprised to find Buffy fast asleep. She was on top of the covers, rather than under them, and she looked like she was freezing.

Angel took off his jacket, then changed his pants and shirt.

Before he got into bed, he picked up Buffy gently, gathered the covers from under her, put her back down, got in next to her, and then covered her up.

Buffy opened her eyes, slowly. "Angel?" she said quietly.

"Yeah, it's me...Sleep," he whispered.

"Mmm hmm," Buffy mumbled, already back asleep.

He just kissed her forehead. He wasn't tired at all, so he just reverted to one of his hobbies, watching Buffy sleep.

Seeing her like that, so peaceful, was just beautiful. _She _was beautiful. And God, was he lucky.

Angel cringed as an unpleasant reminder shot through his head, something he only learned mere minutes ago. He was still praying that he hadn't heard what he had heard, but truth be told, he had a feeling something like this was going to happen. And he hated it. It wasn't fair.


	34. Chapter 34

ooooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review please. I want to know what you think.

A few days later...

"What's wrong baby girl?" Buffy whispered, rubbing her stomach. "You're killing me tonight. My insides are not a soccer field, little girl... You just wait a little bit, okay? You'll be out here with us soon enough, then you can kick whatever you like, however hard you like. Or just wait till morning, beauty, let me sleep a little bit, please," Buffy told her unborn daughter.

Buffy wondered if the baby could understand her. Buffy's voice seemed to soothe the child, because the intense kicking stopped.

"Good," Buffy said, relieved. "That's my girl," she whispered again.

Buffy turned on her side to go back to sleep, and found Angel opening his eyes.

"Sorry," Buffy said. "Go back to sleep."

"You okay?" Angel asked.

"Well, there was a game of soccer going on inside my womb. But the game's over now, so I'm all good. Ready for some actual sleep."

"Baby's playing rough?" Angel asked.

"She was. But I think she just wanted to remind us that she was there," Buffy smiled tiredly.

"Like we'd forget that," Angel laughed.

"Seriously," Buffy agreed.

"But you're okay now?" Angel asked again.

"You're sweet, but yeah, I'm fine," Buffy said.

"Good," Angel said.

"Okay then. It's time for some shut-eye... Goodnight," Buffy said, closing her eyes.

"Night," he responded.

Buffy fell asleep very quickly, whereas Angel remained awake, just watching her sleep.

"You're everything to me," he whispered.

After about an hour, Buffy began to toss and turn a bit. Angel assumed it was because the baby was starting to kick again.

Angel moved lower in the bed, so that his face was right next to Buffy's stomach.

"Hey you," he whispered. "What's going on in there, little one? You've got to give her a little bit of rest. She's got to sleep for a bit," he said. "I don't know if you know, but she's kind of like a superhero. She fights all day, everyday, to keep people safe, to keep you safe. So when the dark rolls around and she's finally ready to close her eyes, she needs it, little one... I know you want attention right now, so I've got a deal for you, precious. You and me, we're gonna stay up, and we're gonna talk, but no kicking your mommy," he said, smiling to himself.

Buffy stopped moving around.

"You remember my voice, don't you?" Angel whispered. "That's good. I want you to remember. You and me, we're gonna talk a lot, so you won't forget my voice. I don't know if I'm ever going to get the chance to meet you, so I want you to always remember my voice, and remember that I love you more than you'll ever know, and that you're one of my miracles."

And so the night went on. Angel talked to his daughter for hours, and Buffy slept soundly.

Morning came quickly, and another day began.

While Buffy was in the shower, Angel went to look for Giles and Dawn.

He found them both in the library, and surprisingly they were the only ones there, which was actually a good thing. Angel wanted to ask them something.

"Hi guys," Angel said.

"Hey," Dawn said.

"Hello," Giles greeted.

"I've got a hypothetical question for you," Angel said.

Dawn grinned.

"Go ahead, then," Giles said.

"Let's just say, what if two members of the crew here, wanted to, you know, maybe just take a little, tiny, trip, like two days, three days? Do you think anyone would object? I don't see what it would hurt, you know. The Apocalypse is still more than two months away," Angel said.

Giles let a little smile cross his face. "I don't think anyone would mind, after all, you said that the fight is more than two months away. I don't think anyone would hold two people having a bit of fun while they still can, against them."

"Oh stop talking like you don't know he's talking about him and Buffy," Dawn laughed. "I say, have whatever fun you can have."

Angel grinned. "I'll see you guys later."

He bumped into Buffy on the way out of the library.

"Hey you," she said.

"I have to ask you something," Angel told her.

"Sure," Buffy said.

"Would you come away with me for a few days? Just you and me," he asked.

A huge smile spread across Buffy's face. "Trying to sweep me off my feet?"

"What do you say?"

"I _want_ to say yes."

"Then say it," Angel told her.

"How can we just go, there's training, and what if the others get mad?" Buffy sighed.

"It's only a few days, and they won't mind, at least Dawn and Giles won't," he said, with an almost childlike excitement in his eyes.

"Screw it," Buffy said. "Let's go. You and me," she grinned.

"Yeah?" Angel smiled.

"Yes," she replied. "We're gonna enjoy ourselves."

"Good," Angel said.

"I've just got to take care of the training and patrolling schedule, and then tomorrow, I'll go with you, wherever you want," Buffy said.

"Sounds like a plan," Angel said with a smile

Angel looked so happy, which made Buffy happy.

This man was the model of male beauty even when he scowled, but when he smiled, oh how Buffy's heart would soar.

If she _wasn't _ the Slayer, and if she _didn't _ have responsibilities, she would follow him anywhere when he smiled like that.


	35. Chapter 35

ooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Enjoy it and review!

"It's beautiful here," Buffy said, sitting against a large tree, closing her eyes for a minute. "It really is... I can't believe this is where you grew up."

"It's a lot different," Angel said, sitting down next to her. "But there are things that are the same."

"Is it weird being back here after all this time?" Buffy asked him.

"Yeah. But it feels kinda nice too, when I don't think of all the bad things that happened here," he answered. "It's nice being here with you."

Buffy smiled at him. "A big part of me doesn't want to leave," Buffy admitted. "I like the whole just you and me thing... I can't believe you brought me to Ireland, and I can't believe it's been three days already."

"Time flies when you're having fun," Angel said.

"True, true," Buffy said. "Angel, I'm probably being paranoid, but I've got to ask. Why did you bring me _here_, now? We were supposed to do this when the fighting was over. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"I just figured that, in case that we don't make it through the next months, we should do this now, because I really wanted to do this with you," Angel told her.

"As long as you're not trying to say goodbye to me or anything like that."

"I'm not dying yet, Buffy," Angel said to her.

Buffy nodded her head. "Good stuff, then."

They remained quiet for a few minutes until Buffy finally said. "You wanna know the only thing that I don't like about this trip?"

"What?" Angel asked.

"I haven't had anything to beat up. Not one thing in three days... Now I love relaxing as much as the next girl, but three whole days without even throwing a punch at someone, that's crazy," Buffy said.

Angel laughed. "I swear, only you would say that. Only you."

"Oh, you know you're the exact same way," Buffy told him.

"Well maybe I'm itching to hit something just a little bit," Angel grinned.

"What did I tell you? Two peas in a pod, you and I are. Two peas in a pod," Buffy laughed back.

"We should probably be heading towards the airport soon. The flight's in a couple hours," Angel said.

"That would involve getting up and walking, would it not?" Buffy asked.

"It would," Angel answered.

"I'm not exactly all for getting up right now. Not really in a walking mood," she said stubbornly.

"Who says you need to walk?" Angel grinned, picking her up.

"Not on my life. No way are you carrying me," she squealed. "Put me down," she laughed.

"I knew I'd get you walking. No way the Slayer's gonna let me carry her to the airport," Angel chuckled, putting her down.

"Hey, that's not fair. Don't use my Slayer-ness against me," she pouted.

"Let's go," Angel laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Buffy said. "Let's get out of here. Sooner we get back, sooner we can fight something," Buffy said eagerly.

"That's the spirit," Angel teased.

o

"Damn, these guys really missed us, Buffy," Angel said, pounding his fist into an anonymous vampire's face.

"I know. We haven't even been back for five minutes, and already they're coming to say hello. I'm feeling very special," Buffy said, shoving a stake into another vamp's chest.

"I'm over the whole feeling special thing," Buffy finally said, throwing her stake to Angel.

He caught it and made his vamp foe turn to dust.

"Are you happy now?" Angel laughed at Buffy.

"Yes, very. It was good to get a staking in," she answered.

"Shut your mouth, you stupid bitch," A familiar voice yelled.

It was Dawn. Buffy ran towards the voice.

"What are you gonna do Dawn?" a different voice replied. "It's not like you can make me shut my mouth. You're no Slayer, you're just the whore's little sister," the girl said, shoving Dawn.

"Don't _ever _talk about her like that again," Dawn hissed. "Away," she shouted and flicked her hand.

Buffy got there just in time to see Dawn send one of the Slayers flying into one of the tombstones.

_Damn, Dawn's getting good._

The slayer got back up and charged at Dawn.

Before she had the chance to touch Dawn , Buffy tackled this girl back down to the ground.

"What the hell is your problem?" Buffy screamed.

"Well, if it isn't the whore herself," the girl spat.

Buffy punched her in the face, hard. "One more time. What's your problem?"

"You're my problem," the slayer said.

"Buffy, don't even listen to her. She's freakin' psycho," Dawn said. "Just go back to the Fortress."

Buffy raised her eyebrows at her sister. "Go back to the Fortress and leave you here with _her_? I don't think so... Now answer me, girl, what is your deal?"

"You're supposed to be our leader, but what do I find out you've been doing? You're screwing the enemy. You've been doing that Angelus vamp, and to top it off, I hear that you got knocked up. You're a traitor and a whore."

Angel finally made it over.

Buffy punched the girl in the face again. "Don't talk about things you don't understand, you little bitch. His name is Angel, and he's not the enemy. He's on our side. And how dare you call me a traitor," she said, punching her again, finally getting off the girl. "You're not welcome at the Fortress anymore. I don't want to see you again," Buffy said, as she walked away.

Buffy went over to Dawn, but turned immediately as she saw the Slayer get up and run at Angel with a stake in her hand.

Angel threw the girl off of him very easily. "Don't make me hurt you," he told her.

"I'm a slayer, remember. You're what I hunt. You can't hurt me," the girl hissed, lunging at Angel again.

Angel caught the girl by the throat. "You don't know what it means to be a Slayer," he told her.

Angel turned the girl to face Buffy. "Buffy is a Slayer, she's _the _Slayer. You're just a stupid little girl with a stake in her hand and a bunch of words coming out of her mouth," Angel said, letting the girl go, dropping her to the ground.

The girl raised her stake again, but this time Buffy took her to the ground. "Go home, and do not come back, Liza. I mean it," Buffy whispered, inches from the girl's face. "Me and Angel won't be so forgiving next time," Buffy said, getting off of the girl.

The slayer, Liza, took Buffy by surprise, trying to punch her in the stomach. "I hope your demon spawn dies," she hissed.

Buffy kicked her in the face, instantly making her bleed, and sending her flying backwards. Liza got back up, ready to run back at Buffy, but Angel tackled her to the ground.

"Are you nuts?" he yelled.

"I hope you all die," Liza spat. "You for corrupting Buffy, Buffy for being a traitor to her calling, Dawn for being a stupid bitch, and that thing you call child for being an abomination... Buffy the Vampire Slayer, more like Buffy the Vampire's whore."

Angel threw her into a nearby tree. "Don't think for a second that I don't want to kill you right now," Angel said seriously to the young slayer.

"I wouldn't mind if you did," Buffy said, coming up to Angel and Liza.

Buffy held her foot against Liza's throat. "Don't you _ever _talk about my baby. Do you understand me?" Buffy hissed.

Liza looked scared now, really scared. Totally different from how she looked before, her eyes even turned lighter.

"Buffy?" she whimpered. "What are you doing? And what baby are you talking about? I didn't know you were having a baby... Please get off of me," she begged.

Buffy put her head in her hands and sighed. She should have known something was off about Liza. What was off was that that girl, a few minutes ago, _had not _been Liza. Liza was usually so sweet. Buffy should have known that the girl had been taken over.

Buffy took her foot off the girl's neck and offered her her hand.

Liza looked at her warily.

"Take my hand," Buffy said softly. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Angel and Dawn looked at each other, confused, but then Angel caught on pretty quickly.

"Something possessed her?"

"Yeah," Buffy said.

"Excuse me?" Liza said.

"Do you not remember, fighting me, calling me a whore, trying to hurt my sister and then trying to stake Angel, or trying to punch me in the stomach, telling my baby to die?" Buffy said.

Liza's jaw just dropped.

"You don't remember, you were possessed."

"I'm so sorry," Liza whispered. "I'd never knowingly do that. I respect you, Buffy. And Dawn, you're cool... Hey, I'll admit I'm still kinda uneasy around you, Angel, but Buffy says you're good, so you're good and you're helping us train, so I have no desire to put a stake through you."

"That's good to know," Angel said.

"I can't believe I tried to hurt your baby. I'm so sorry. I didn't even know," Liza said.

"I kind of want to keep it so that nobody else knows, okay?" Buffy said to the girl.

"Okay, I'll keep quiet," Liza nodded. "But I think I'm gonna head home."

"Goodnight," Buffy said to her.

Liza just nodded.

"Angel, would you just follow her, see that she gets home okay?" Buffy asked.

Angel gave a nod and followed Liza.

Buffy then turned to her sister. "What were you doing out here at this time anyway?"

"I was patrolling with Liza."

"You two were the only ones?" Buffy asked.

"We split into groups," Dawn said.

"Okay," Buffy said.

"Stop worrying about me. I know you don't see me as one, but I am an adult," Dawn reminded her sister with a smile. "I'm not totally incompetent. I can defend myself pretty well."

"I know," Buffy said, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes.

_Damn hormones. I'm Super Woman when I'm fighting, but I can't control my stupid emotions._

"Then don't worry so much. I'm all grown up now. _You _ got me here. I'm gonna be _fine_," Dawn said, hugging her sister.

"I know it bugs you, Dawnie, but seriously, I can't _not_ worry. And I _know_ you can defend yourself, but I'm always scared for you. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. And lately, with the baby, I worry about you even more. If I can't keep you safe, how am I gonna be able to be a good mother, how am I gonna keep my baby safe?"

Dawn pulled away from her sister, so she could look her directly in the eye. "You're gonna be a great mom, I've already told you that... And when the hell have you _not_ kept me safe?I don't feel scared. First of all, I don't feel scared because I'm getting good with the magic and know how to use it to defend myself, and secondly, I don't get scared because I know if I screw up, you're there. My big sister is there and she'd protect me with her life... You're gonna do fine. And I'm gonna be fine, too. Do you understand?" Dawn said.

Buffy nodded, beginning to laugh.

"That's better," Dawn said. "Now I feel like we should be talking about the whole possession thing, cuz that was weird."

"That was bad. We gotta talk to Giles about it," Buffy said.

"I bet you're just super happy to be back here after your trip," Dawn said sympathetically and sarcastically.

Buffy gave her sister a small smile.

"How was your trip, by the way?" Dawn asked.

"It was really nice," Buffy smiled. "It was nice just spending some time with Angel," she said. "But- never mind," Buffy said quickly.

Angel got back but stayed in the shadows.

"But what?" Dawn asked her sister.

"It's like he's keeping something from me. It almost seems like he's given up on making it through the war or something. I just have this crazy feeling like he's going somewhere, or that he knows something I don't know... It's that, or that I'm paranoid and crazy. I'm so scared that something's gonna happen and he's just not gonna be there anymore."

"Maybe you are just being paranoid," Dawn said, trying to be a comfort to her sister.

"Or maybe I can't hide anything from her," Angel said to himself.


	36. Chapter 36

oooooooooo Here's the new one.

"Now, you're quite sure she was possessed?" Giles asked calmly.

"Yeah," Buffy said.

"It was like whatever had taken over her was trying really hard to get us to kill Liza," Angel said.

"This can't be good, right, Giles?" Dawn said.

"I don't see how it can be," he answered. "I think this is a sign from the enemy. I think they can attack at any time now. I think the day they set, the day the powers told you about, may not be set in stone anymore."

"Or maybe they're just trying to freak us out," Buffy said. "Get us scared?"

"I don't know," Giles said. "All we can do is keep doing what we've been doing. We've all been training and practicing our various crafts," he said, looking around the gym at the Slayers, witches and werewolves in their human skin, too.

"This could really all be over soon," Sam said quietly. "I mean, it's really just starting to sink in. I'm not ready to not be here anymore."

"You know, seeing as that I didn't actually stay dead, and that I'm here now, I'm not all that anxious to leave this screwed up place either, love," Spike chimed in.

"Then we fight to stay here," Shayla said. "It's pretty simple really, right Buffy?" Shayla grinned.

"Exactly. We fight. We win. I hope," Buffy said.

"Just in case, I think we should probably work on some kind of evacuation plan for the rest of the city, whenever all this does go down," one of the witches said.

"Angel and me and Spike have kind of already thought about that," Buffy said.

Giles looked impressed, and Buffy noticed.

"Hey, the Slayer's not all brawn, you know?" Buffy teased her Watcher. "I've got brains too.

Giles gave her a smile. "Do tell."

"I don't know if you guys know, but there's so many different sewer systems around here. Some of them are old, and aren't used for sewage at all anymore.

Basically they're just like underground shelters. Angel and Spike helped me find a bunch of them... Anyway, the idea is to get everyone who can't fight, everyone who has no idea about what's coming, down there."

"That sounds like a good plan, but how are they all gonna get down there?" Riley asked.

"That's where we all come in," Buffy said. "We're all gonna be fighting, but we're gonna need some of us to help get everyone to safety first... Is there anyone who'd like to do that?" Buffy asked.

"I wouldn't mind," Dawn said.

"We're up for getting the innocents to safety," three young witches said.

"I think I will join," Giles said.

"Count me in," Sam said.

"Us too," a group of six Slayers said.

"If, for some reason, this doesn't happen at the full moon like we thought, then count us in," Oz said.

"But if it is still at full moon, it's best you don't let the innocent ones see us, cuz we'll scare them, I'm sure," Shayla said.

"We want to help too," another group of Slayers called out.

"Good," Buffy said. "If we all work together, we're really strong, and I think we can beat this... We _need to beat this. _This big evil took my friends from me, and they're gonna pay for that. My reasons for wanting revenge are obvious in the fact that they took my friends from me, and because these guys that want to wage war are evil and need to be stopped," Buffy said with a shaky voice. "You r reasons to fight don't have to have anything to do with my friends, I want to make that clear before someone accuses me of dragging people into war because I want to settle a vendetta. My friends were good people and evil killed them, just like it's gonna try to do to every one of us... Fight because it's the right thing to do," Buffy concluded.

"Let's begin the training again," Giles said, giving Buffy the opportunity to walk away without having attention on her.

Buffy walked out of the gym and closed the door behind her. She felt the tears coming on.

Someone opened the door and Buffy wiped her eyes quickly.

"Only me," Oz said. "No need to wipe those away," he said gently. "I think I feel some of my own coming on now."

Buffy looked at him, and he was right. His eyes were beginning to water. She'd never seen him cry before.

They walked to each other and silently embraced.

After a few minutes Oz finally spoke. "I miss her so much, Buffy."

"I know."

"Tried hard to be strong, you know. Try not to get too emotional, because there's big stuff going on. But today, I don't know. I can't hold it in anymore," Oz admitted.

"I know exactly what you mean," Buffy answered.

"You were talking in there, and then all of a sudden I had a flashback to high school. You, me, Willow, Xander, Faith, and Cordelia. We were at the Bronze, and it was just a good night. One of those really rare occurrences. It wasn't really anything special. It was just nice, you know? Angel even came by that night, hung around for awhile."

"I remember that night," Buffy said, with a smile. "We all had some good times, huh?"

"We did," Oz said.

Buffy patted Oz's hand softly.

"But it's fighting time now," Oz said.

"Exactly," Buffy agreed. "We'll make them pay."

"That's the plan," Oz said, wiping away all traces of tears. "Let's head back in, then?"

"Let's," Buffy said, opening up the door back to the gym.

Buffy was going to join her Slayers, but she felt like she was gonna be seeing her lunch any second, and ran off to the washroom to throw up in private. When she finished, she gargled a whole lot of mouthwash. Shayla walked in, just as Buffy was washing her hands off.

"Just the person I wanted to see," Buffy said. "Shayla, when am I gonna have this baby? I mean, you told me a while back that this pregnancy is going faster than normal, but just how fast? And why am I still throwing up all the time? I know you can't tell by looking at me, but she's getting really big, Shayla. I feel her inside, and I think she wants out... And I want her out too, I wanna see her," Buffy said. "But we've got a war to fight, and I don't think I can have her out here in the actual world and be able to fight at the same time. All I'd be thinking about is her," Buffy admitted.

Shayla smiled. "And to think it was only months ago, that you were scared you wouldn't be able to be a mom. Look at you. You are so ready... As for when she's gonna make her first appearance, I would say another month or two," Shayla said, with her hand on Buffy's stomach.

"We could already be fighting by then," Buffy said worriedly. "Or we could still be waiting to fight."

"Either one is possible," Shayla admitted. "All you can do is fight, either way, Buffy," Shayla said.

"I know," Buffy sighed. "Let's get back to the fighting, then," she said, heading back out to the group.

She noticed that Riley wasn't fighting with anyone, so she went over to him. "Let's go big guy," she said. "See if you still remember how to do this," she teased.

"Remember how to get my ass kicked by the Slayer? How could I ever forget," he joked.

"Don't give up so easy," Buffy laughed. "Let's go," she said, throwing a punch.

And so Buffy got back in the swing of things, and pushed her worry aside, not knowing that Angel was watching her in agony as he trained with Dawn.

"Earth to Angel," Dawn said, smacking Angel softly, upside the head. "What's going on where you are?" she teased.

"Sorry," he said. "Just thinking."

"Is everything okay?" Dawn asked more seriously.

"Yeah, it's fine. Why?" he asked.

"I didn't want to admit to my sister that she had a point last night, but she's right... You seem worried a lot lately, like you're hiding something, especially when you look at her," Dawn said. "So, what's up?"

"Don't worry. I'm fine. Nothing's up," he said.

"You're almost as bad a liar as Buffy is," Dawn said.

"You'll be there for your sister, right?" Angel asked.

"I'm always there for my sister," Dawn said. "Now enough with the creepy, and spill," she said, dragging Angel out of the gym. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing's going on. I'm just being realistic, even if some of us make it through this war, we might not all make it. I'm just saying, that if I don't, I hope you'll be there for your sister and help her with the baby. That's all," he said nervously.

"You know I will," Dawn said. "And I know that you're not telling me everything," she whispered. "Are you dying, or something?" Dawn asked, worriedly.

"Kid, listen, don't worry about me," Angel said, trying to smile, but not doing a great job. She knew he was lying.

"Oh my God. You _are _gonna die," Dawn gasped. "No," she whispered. "How?... Why?" she asked, as tears started to fall down her face. "You're good... Why?"

"Don't cry for me, Dawn," Angel said, hugging her.

"What's going to happen?" she asked him. "How do you know, you're gonna, you know, _leave_?"

He didn't answer.

"Answer me."

"I don't know for absolute sure," he finally said. "You know how me and Buffy have been getting messages from the powers?"

"Yeah," Dawn nodded.

"I heard one of them. I guess he thought I was sleeping. It almost seemed like he was talking to himself. Saying that when the war was over, if our side was to win, that they'd have to take me away. That I'd have to die."

"Why?" Dawn asked.

"For the baby to be born," he said quietly.

"I don't understand," Dawn whispered.

"The baby is just a baby, but with special gifts, like strength, you know? She's sort of supernatural, at least the way she came to be," Angel explained. "In that way, when the Powers give life, they need to take one too."

"Why you?"

"It's got to be someone who's on the Supernatural side. Someone with powers or extra strength, that type of thing," Angel said. "But seriously, I don't know if this whole death thing is gonna happen... I opened my eyes, and then there was nothing. No voices, or anything. It was gone. It was almost as if I was hallucinating. Maybe I just imagined it."

"You know you didn't," Dawn said. "I'm gonna find a way around this for you, okay?" Dawn said. "Somehow, I'm gonna do it."

"Please, Dawn. You're the only one who knows. You can't tell Buffy. Please," Angel said.

"I won't," she said. "I don't think she could take it, if she knew... But by the time I'm done, you won't even need to worry about not telling her, because I'm gonna find you a way out of this crap," Dawn said, determined. "You've always been nice to me, and you look out for us when you can. You're cool to talk to. You're a good guy... Even if you meant nothing to my sister, those are reasons enough for me to help you out. But you mean so much to my sister, so I'm gonna try that much harder. I'm gonna get you out of this."

"Thank you for saying that... But you take care of yourself. You don't worry about me," he said softly.

"You sound like Buffy," Dawn said. "Anyway, I'm not giving up on you. You go back in there and train your butt off, I'm going to do some research... If anyone asks, just tell them I wasn't feeling good," Dawn said, already heading up the stairs.

"Dawn-"

"I'm doing this, Angel. Just go back in there," Dawn said, disappearing up the stairs.


	37. Chapter 37

ooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Review and enjoy!

Dawn rubbed her eyes, getting extremely frustrated. She had been in the library for hours, going through whatever books she thought could help her with Angel's potentially huge problem. She wasn't getting anywhere. She couldn't find anything. She banged her fists against the table in frustration. And at that moment Giles walked in.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said quickly. "I'm just getting tired.. I think I'm gonna head off to bed," Dawn said, leaving before Giles could ask anything more.

_Maybe if I get some sleep, I'll be better focused. I'll be better. I'll find something if I just get some sleep._

That's what Dawn said to herself, before crawling into her bed.

o

3 hours later...

Dawn could not sleep any longer. She woke up and felt a bit more energized so she decided to sneak back to the library and attempt some more research.

"I don't care what I have to do, I'm gonna get Angel out of this mess," Dawn muttered.

She closed the door behind her and headed straight for the area of books she was looking for. She didn't bother choosing just one. There were at least 50 different books, and those were only the ones that Dawn had easily found that she needed to search for information in.

"What Buffy doesn't know won't make her mad," Dawn said to herself, as she took a deep breath.

She opened up each book, and one by one, placed her hand on top, absorbing its information. There was no time for reading. She was getting pretty good with the magic, so she decided that she would try a spell to get more information in record time.

"Nothing," Dawn hissed, angrily as she kept making her way through the books, magically.

She was about half way through, with absolutely no results. Dawn was getting angry. She needed to find something to help save Angel's life. She couldn't just let him vanish off the face of the Earth.

Dawn was beginning to get dizzy, but she stupidly pushed all that aside, and kept absorbing the information. She knew it was all too much for her, but she kept going.

She only had about five books left on the massive table.

"Just a few more," she muttered to herself.

Her vision was becoming blurred and she began to feel her legs shake.

As Dawn finally made it to the last book, she could take no more. Blood was oozing out of her finger nails, and her body gave up. She hit her head on the edge of the table as she fell, and then blood pooled next to her on the ground.

o

"Awake quietly. Quietly awake. A little bit of me, I offer to you. Magic to magic, me to you. Take this strength to your heart and let it re-start," Shayla chanted, holding onto Dawn's hand.

Shayla had not been able to fall asleep so she had decided to go to the library to see if she could do any useful research, and it's a good thing she did.

The first thing Shayla saw when she walked in was Dawn lying on the ground with a pool of blood next to her. Shayla almost had a heart-attack when she found that Dawn's heart was not beating, but she quickly composed herself, and grabbed Dawn's hand and began to chant a spell that she prayed would start up Dawn's heart again. She didn't know why she hadn't run to get Buffy, she just had this feeling like she shouldn't.

She had been chanting for nearly five minutes, and now, finally, Dawn's eyes opened. Shayla buried her head in her hands. Dawn was okay. She was alive. And Shayla had saved her.

"Shayla?" Dawn said quietly.

Shayla didn't answer, she just kept her head in her hands. She didn't want Dawn to see her cry, which is exactly what Shayla was doing, with her hands covering her face. She'd been around Dawn a lot in the past months, and she really liked her. She was beginning to feel like family. And Shayla couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her.

"Shayla?" Dawn said again.

Shayla wiped her eyes, and finally looked at Dawn.

"Thank you," Dawn whispered.

"What the hell were you doing?" Shayla asked her. "Do you know that I just re-started your heart, kid? What is going on? The truth, I mean it," Shayla said seriously.

"I was stupid with the magic again," Dawn said quietly.

"I figured that part out all on my own, Dawn. Now tell me what's up, I need to know. I care about you, kid. I don't want anything happening to you. Unfortunately that already happened. Tell me what's going on or I swear, I don't care that you're legally an adult, I will go straight to your big sister."

"No, you can't tell Buffy anything," Dawn said quickly.

"Then you tell me," Shayla said, softly. "Tell me what's worth almost getting yourself killed for."

"Would keeping a good guy alive, and keeping my sister happy be a good answer?" Dawn said.

"Depends," Shayla answered. "Is that what you were trying to do?"

Dawn didn't want anyone to know, just to keep the chances of Buffy finding out as small as possible, but Shayla just saved her life. Dawn owed her the truth, and maybe Shayla could even help.

"That's the truth," Dawn answered.

"Alright then. Start from the beginning, make this make sense to me."

"Angel's gonna die. The Powers said so. It has to do with the baby, cuz she's a supernatural life. Basically they messed with things so that she could exist. To bring supernatural life into the world, they also have to take one away. And we can't tell Bufy, cuz she'll flip and I'm pretty sure extra stress is not good for the baby," Dawn said quietly.

"Oh my," Shayla said. "Yeah, I agree. No telling Buffy... I'm going to help you with this."

"Thanks," Dawn said.

"Are you sure you feel okay?" Shayla asked Dawn.

"I'm good, thanks to you."

"Now tell me, did you manage to find anything, before nearly leaving us all for good?" Shayla asked.

"Yeah, actually, I did," Dawn said, with just a hint of a sad smile.


	38. Chapter 38

ooooooooooooooooooooooo I hope you'll like the chapter.

A month, one week and a few days later...

"Angel?" Buffy said quietly. "You awake?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

"Something like that," he answered. "She keeping you up?" he asked her.

"No," she smiled. "Baby girl's been good tonight. I just can't fall asleep."

"What's up?" he asked her.

"She's coming, Angel. This baby is gonna come any day now. I can feel her. She's ready to come out. Shayla said, last month when I talked to her, that little girl here would be making an appearance in a month or two. We've passed the one month mark... I'm scared that she's gonna come before the fighting even starts, and when it finally does, what am I gonna be thinking about the whole time. What are you gonna be thinking about the whole time? Her. We're gonna be worrying about her. And what if we lose because you and me can't fully focus on fighting to saving this screwed up world? Or what if it's the other way around, you know? What if it's all about saving the world, and not her? Either way, there could be so much disaster. I mean, we can fail the world, or we can fail her," Buffy whispered.

Angel sat up and looked straight into Buffy's eyes. "We're not gonna fail anyone," he told her. "It's gonna be okay. We're not going to fail, okay? And we don't know for sure that she's gonna come before the fighting does," Angel said.

"Speak for yourself, buddy," Buffy said, a little snappishly. "Little girl is inside of _me. _She's coming out in a few days, _max_, trust me. She wants out into this world."

"I didn't mean it like that. If you say she's coming soon, I believe you. You're the one carrying her. You know what's going on in your own body. I just meant that, the fighting could start right now for all we know. I'm pretty sure the big evils threw out their original date for destruction."

"Oh, well if that's what you meant, then the whole snapping at you thing wasn't so nice," Buffy sighed.

Angel just laughed.

After a few minutes of quiet, Buffy finally asked, "What are we gonna name her?"

"What do you like?" Angel asked.

"I've always thought that maybe you know, give her my mom's name or Willow's as a middle name or something, but then I remember that day we had this conversation. It was so weird and random, but we started talking about naming babies for some reason. And somehow we came to talk about naming babies after people who had died.

"Will and my mom both weren't really for that, and I thought it was a bit weird. But they'd both said that they thought, in the end, that might make the parent sad for some reason. Like they'd look at the child and remember the person who had died and be sad... I don't think I really agree with them, but I guess I get their point. Not wanting to bring back sad memories and stuff... I've also thought of calling her Dawn, but then I get to thinking that, this baby should have a name all her own, you know?" Buffy said.

"I know what you mean," Angel said.

"What about you?" Buffy asked. "Anything you like?"

"Something with a D," he said.

"Something we can work with," Buffy laughed.

And that's when the first big bang was heard and the explosion was seen.

"Here we go," Buffy yelled, hopping out of the bed immediately, and throwing the door open. "Everyone up," she screamed.

"Time to fight," she said as she pulled out her phone, pushed one button that automatically sent one huge message to all her Slayers. It was not a message, just an alarm to let them know it was showtime.

Angel grabbed one bag and threw another to Buffy.

Buffy knew everyone was up, because the Fortress was full of noise. "Everyone knows what you've got to do. If you're getting people to safety, move your asses, if you're fighting, move your asses. Good luck. I wanna see you all again," Buffy yelled loudly.

Buffy quickly ran out of her room and barged into her sister's. Dawn was ready to go. She had a bag of her own with some weapons, she was ready to get people to safety.

Buffy grabbed her sister, hugged her quickly and kissed her forehead. "I'll see you in a bit, okay?" Buffy said worriedly.

Dawn didn't answer, she just hugged her back.

Giles walked into the room and Buffy ran to him, hugging him too.

Angel came in and Dawn went to him, giving him a quick hug. "I've been trying real hard Angel," she told him.

"I told you before not to worry about me. What'll happen will happen... I appreciate what you tried to do," Angel said giving her a smile.

Buffy came over. "We gotta go," she said quickly.

Everyone left the room, and everyone was quickly exiting the Fortress.

Angel pulled Buffy aside, and kissed her hard. He needed at least that if he was gonna be gone. "I love you," he told her as they raced out the door.

"Love you too... Time to kick some ass," she said, with a shaky voice.

It already resembled what L.A. had looked like after the Apocalypse. Many buildings had chunks already ripped out. Things were on fire. And, good God, there were monsters galore.

Everyone had emptied out of the Fortress already, and all of Buffy's Slayers were on the street too. They even had an extra fifty Slayers that had come over from other parts of the world. The Slayers all grabbed their weapons. The witches got the concentrating really hard look in their eyes. Riley and Spike charged, and the werewolves growled and then did the same. The battle was on.

- - - - - I'm not sure if I can get an update up tomorrow, if not I'll have one up on Sunday. Let me know what you think of the chapter.


	39. Chapter 39

oooooooooooooooooooo Here's the new chapter. Only two more to go! Review and enjoy.

Buffy barely had time to cringe as she witnessed the beheading of one of her Slayers.

A creature with two heads flew directly at Buffy, talons out and ready to attack. Buffy managed, but only in the nick of time, to whip out her axe and chop its head off. As she swung the axe, her head pushed to the side and she saw Angel wielding a sword, and something finally hit her. He was wearing the Gem of Amarra, he wasn't going to die. So what the hell had been up with him lately? He couldn't be worried about not being around. Buffy had no time to wonder about this any further, as she had to duck and whip out a stake.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dawn and Giles running towards the fight, at least they had got the innocent people to safety. Dawn reached for an axe and Giles grabbed a sword.

Spike was battling a couple other vampires. Riley and Sam were battling some of the werewolves from the evil side. Oz, Shayla, and their pack of werewolves were battling a bunch of unknown and ugly things.

The witches were throwing spells at the enemy left, right, and center.

If one had any time to count, they would know that the good guys actually outnumbered the bad. But honestly, right now, that didn't matter, because the bad guys were doing just fine.

Buffy was busy chopping away at something that looked remarkably like pictures Buffy had seen of a triceratops. It was disgusting really, the continuous hacking away at its head, but she needed to stop it before it stopped her.

She looked to her right and saw that Angel had disposed of his personal enemy, and then she looked to the left and saw that Spike had done the same.

"Angel! Spike!" she yelled.

Both vampires whipped their heads in Buffy's direction and came running to her, holding a Machete and a sword between them. They started to join in with the hacking of the triceratops thing.

"Thank you, boys," Buffy panted. "But I didn't yell so you could come rescue me. I'll take care of this, thank you very much." Buffy finally struck the deadly blow. The head fell off of the creature's body.

"Remember what Giles found? Remember he said the last time this happened, the werewolves and the vampires pretty easily destroyed the other creatures in the war?"

Angel nodded, as did Spike.

"You two should team up. Go crazy, and have a big old bite-fest on enemy ass," Buffy said, as she shoved both Angel and Spike down to the ground, while she sprung into the air, avoiding some sort of mini fireball.

"And if you can manage it, go find some of the lovable werewolves, and tell them to work with you at the same time," she yelled as she ran in another direction.

Giles and Dawn were being crowded, and Buffy had to help.

Dawn was bleeding a bit, and chanting as if her life depended on it, which at the moment, it kind of did. And Giles was swinging away with the axe.

There was a creature who greatly resembled a small mountain. So what did Buffy do? She climbed the mountain so she could get to the other side to help. She jumped onto what seemed to be the creature's back and then down in front of it, shoving her axe into its eye, causing it to explode.

"Thanks," Dawn said.

Buffy nodded and then ran in another direction. Another three slayers fell. As did one of the witches and one of Oz's pack. Riley got struck down, but he was still alive, Buffy hoped.

Something flew at Buffy, and clawed at her neck, drawing blood. Buffy was mad, she shrieked as she jumped into the air and onto the creature's back. She pulled backwards on its head and smiled, satisfied, when she heard the snap. She let go and jumped back down to the ground.

This was going to be a long night. If they lasted that long.

o

Many hours later...

It should have been light long ago, but the darkness remained.

"Not now little girl," Buffy whispered. "Please not now... Wait until the monsters are gone," she said quietly, willing the pain inside her to go away so that she could dish some pain out on the bad guys.

"Thank you baby," Buffy said, when the pain subsided. Buffy ignored the massive amount of blood that was running down her arm, and got back into the mix.

The enemies' numbers had decreased significantly, but they were still fighting hard, and had gotten rid of quite a bunch of the individuals on Buffy's side.

The witches and werewolves numbers had been just about cut in half, and another fifty Slayers had been slaughtered.

Angel saw Buffy and ran to her. "I thought something happened to you," he said. "You scared me."

"I needed to not be in the middle of fighting. I thought she was just about ready to come out, but it's okay for now. Still here," she said, attempting a smile. "I see you and Spike listened to me," she whispered. "There's a lot less vamps and werewolves on their side now," Buffy said, grabbing her sword quickly, and plunging it into an oncoming enemy's chest.

"Let's go," she said, squeezing Angel's hand, and running off.

A whole new energy rushed through Buffy. These guys needed to go down. And they needed to go down now.

Buffy knew that the werewolves on her side, would soon not be werewolves anymore, just human. Buffy's side needed to do some more damage, serious damage, and now.

Dawn and Giles were fighting next to a bunch of Oz' pack. Buffy was happy about this, but also felt guilty. So many good people had died, and Dawn and Giles were still there, they were taking care of themselves, Dawn was actually doing pretty well. She'd killed quite a few of the enemy already, and Giles had taken a couple out, but they were being looked out for a bit more than anyone else. Buffy was just happy they were alive. Angel ran over and joined them, as did Spike, Sam and Riley.

"We all need to fight them together," Buffy said, as the blood continued to fall down her arm. Dawn came over to her sister, and put her hand on her arm and closed her eyes, concentrating really hard.

After about a minute, Dawn managed a smile and so did Buffy. Dawn actually closed up Buffy's wound.

"Thanks sis."

"No prob."

"Okay, from now on, we've got to try to move as a group. I think it's the only way we're gonna make it... We get to my Slayers first and then we get with the witches. Then we put all our power together and we fight until they die," Buffy said softly but firmly.

There were nods all around, as the group moved as one towards the Slayers. All had weapons both natural and man-made, and each person on the good side now used them at the same time as they joined with the rest of the Slayers and then with the witches.

Buffy's group was way stronger now. They should have gone in this way, everyone together at the same time, maybe they wouldn't have lost so many if they had done that. But they couldn't have at the time, they needed to be spread out, now they didn't. The group of individuals fighting for the existence of the world, were all sprayed with a great amount of blood as they all took down the biggest creature any of them had ever seen. It had horns and six heads, and blew fire. Now it was just dead.

Before anyone knew what was going on, some creature had come from behind and swooped up both Riley and Sam with talons that looked to be at least a foot long.

Sam shrieked and Buffy felt blood fall onto her shoulder from above. The creature snapped Sam's neck and dropped her to the ground.

Riley yelled "God, No!" and Buffy's heart broke for him as he tried he slash at the creature.

They weren't too high up in the air, so Buffy launched herself up and managed to catch onto the creature's leg on drag him back down, and pry Riley out of his grasp.

As Riley fell back down onto the ground, Buffy grabbed her axe and swung it at the creature, but it caught her off guard and grabbed her by the arm hoisting her back up into the air, Buffy tried to hit it, but it swung at Buffy, clawing at her head, causing a lot of bleeding.

Dawn screamed from below and yelled at the other witches. "I'm not that good, do something to get her down."

"You all fight them," Angel yelled. "I got Buffy," he said, jumping up after Buffy and the creature.

"Okay, you loser, I don't like seeing evil scum like you draw my blood. We need to put an end to that," Buffy hissed, swinging the axe again, finally hitting something, a wing, she guessed.

Angel grabbed Buffy around the waist, and swung a sword of his own, slicing the creature in half.

Back on the ground, the witches had joined hands with a bunch of the rest of Buffy's fighters and seemed to be harnessing their power, as one. This was doing great things for them, because the energy coming from them was extremely powerful. It was eliminating enemies very efficiently.

Buffy tried to make a smooth and Slayer-like landing, but she was too off balance, she fell right smack on top of Angel.

"Sorry," she mumbled, trying to wipe the blood off her head. Buffy looked around and saw that the group was okay at least for another couple minutes.

Buffy looked down at Angel, not getting off of him. "You've been lying to me, Angel," she said, keeping watch on the group.

"What are you talking about?"

"You said you've been nervous about something happening to you or me, not making it through this. But nothing's gonna happen to you Angel. You've got the Gem. They won't be able to kill you. So why the hell have you been saying you're nervous about that? There's no way they can kill you, right?"

Angel didn't answer her, he just pulled her even closer and kissed her.

Buffy felt tears coming on, but she held them back. He was lying and he wouldn't tell her what it was.

She got up and said. "Let's go kill the bad guys."

When Angel and Buffy got back to the group, one of the witches called, "Get over here, Buffy take my hand, and Angel take hers. And be quick about it. I can only break this circle for a couple seconds."

Buffy and Angel did as they were told and hurried to join.

"Good," the witch said. "I need you two close to me because of your power, the closer you are to me, the more efficiently I can combine your power."

Buffy didn't let go, but she did look around and noticed that some of the cirlce were beginning to collapse. They were being drained of their energy.

Buffy only hoped that the circle would last long enough to eliminate the enemy completely.


	40. Chapter 40

ooooooooooooooooooo This is the second last chapter. Review and enjoy.

As more of the circle, including Dawn, fell because of all the energy that was being taken from them, others that had been fighting on their own, had joined the circle to re-strengthen it.

Buffy hoped that the fallen ones were okay. Dawn had better be fine or Buffy didn't know what she would do.

Giles was still standing, which Buffy was happy to see.

Riley just fell, and Buffy feared that he might not get up later on. He had lost Sam.

Buffy turned her attention back to the enemies, which she was extremely happy to say, were almost all gone.

Just as Buffy got hopeful, those very hopes were dashed, as ninety-five percent of the witches were destroyed by an unnoticed fireball.

Only two witches remained, and the circle broke.

"Just fight," Buffy yelled, launching herself straight into the face of the closest monster. She brought down her axe and literally chopped it in half.

Below, Angel and Spike just slaughtered some really nasty, evil beast.

The remaining werewolves were working together and tearing apart some of the smaller beasts.

Giles and the two remaining witches just finished vanquishing another enemy.

Rona, Kennedy, Liza, and the other slayers were staking most of the remaining vampires.

It looked like Riley was getting up, but it never happened. A cyclops-type creature came to him and plunged a sword into his chest. Buffy's heart sunk.

Buffy didn't know how she noticed, but Dawn opened her eyes.

_Stay down, Dawnie. Let him think you're dead, then he'll walk away from you, and then I'll kill him._

Either Dawn figured it out all on her own, or she had somehow got Buffy's thoughts. She stayed down and closed her eyes.

"Good girl," Buffy breathed with a sigh of relief.

Buffy began to run towards Dawn but a vampire rushed her.

"Oh please," Buffy hissed. "Stake," she called, and plunged it into the heart, turning vamp-boy into dust.

Buffy fell at Dawn's side. "Hey you," she said. "You okay?"

Dawn nodded. "I just feel drained... We're doing good," she said quietly. "I better get up and help end this thing even quicker."

"No, no. It's okay. We'll take care of it, you stay here, and try to gather your strength," Buffy said, running off again.

There were three monsters left. Only three.

As if out of nowhere, the sun began to make its way out. Finally. But this was not a good thing. It went from darkness to light in a matter of seconds.

"Spike, get into the caves," Buffy shouted. "You're gonna burn."

"No!" Buffy yelled a minute later. Someone had Spike, and wasn't letting him get out of the sun. Buffy could see him burning. She tried to run to him, but one of the remaining scumbags started a fight with her.

Dawn saw what was going on with Spike, and she got up as quickly as she could. It looked like she was attempting a spell but it didn't work, so she charged at the enemy with all she had, but it wasn't enough. She barely made him budge, and by the time she got there, Spike was no more.

A tear dropped from Buffy's eye for Spike, as she quickly got rid of her own foe.

There were only two enemies left now.

And one of them was about to shove a sword through Buffy's sister.

"Not my sister, you bastard," she yelled as she flew in her sister's direction, but Angel got there first.

He shoved Dawn out of the way, and then chopped off the creep's head.

The werewolves were changing back to their human selves as the sun became brighter.

This needed to end now.

There was only one creature left, but it was monstrous. It was the same size as the other big guy they had slaughtered.

"Over here guys," Buffy yelled. "This is it."

It was gonna take everyone left to get rid of it.

Before Buffy could blink, this thing gulped up most of the remaining slayers.

Buffy wanted to throw up, but she had to fight.

Buffy and Angel both had the same idea, and jumped onto the creature's head/shoulder area, while the other Slayers jumped onto its stomach area, and Giles, Dawn, the two witches, and the human werewolves stayed at its feet.

Everyone began hacking away at the creature at the same time.

This thing didn't stand a chance, he was going down, but he made sure to take at least a few more of the good guys with him.

He tore apart a few more members of Oz' pack and another three slayers.

In the end, Buffy, Angel, and company managed to slice him three ways.

Buffy and Angel jumped off the top of its head just as the monster turned to ash.

Buffy got to the ground and put her head in her hands and began to laugh and cry at the same time. Both happy and sad.

Dawn and Giles ran over to her and gathered her in a hug.

She looked around, and the sadness really sunk in.

Angel, Dawn, Maya and Sheri (the two witches), Giles, Oz, Shayla, Ong-Lee and Dayna (two of Oz and Shayla's pack members), Buffy, along with ten other slayers: Rona, Kennedy, Liza, Melinda, Sarah, Deni, Rosalie, Sayorse, Rachel, and Leyla, were all that remained.

"We lost so many," Liza said sadly.

"We did," Buffy agreed with a sigh, willing herself not to cry, thinking about everyone, but especially Riley, Sam, and Spike.

"But they went out heroes. They helped us save the world," Buffy said.

"We should probably go get the people out of the sewers. I only hope they weren't found," Giles said.

The remaining slayers volunteered to go find the clueless citizens.

As soon as they were gone, a river of water poured out of Buffy.

"Oh God," Buffy said. "Dawn, Shayla. My water broke. Angel? Where the hell are you?" Buffy yelled, suddenly extremely nervous.

"All that water came out of you?" Giles said, astonished. "So much for someone so small."

Angel hid his grin as he ran over to Buffy.

"I told you she was ready to come out, didn't I?" Buffy said to Angel.

"Okay, come on," Dawn said, taking Buffy by the arm, as Shayla grabbed Angel.

"Where're you going?" Oz asked.

"Buffy's gonna have a baby," Dawn explained. "And it's not going to be by C-section, if you know what I mean."

Oz nodded understandingly. Shayla just laughed.

"Giles?" Buffy suddenly called out. She suddenly thought of her own parents, both not around anymore. She always thought she would ask her mom what kind of baby names she liked. Mom was dead and for all intents and purposes, so was dad.

"Yes, Buffy?"

"What should we name her?" Buffy asked.

"I rather like the name Danica," he said. "It would fit her quite well, too, I would say."

"What's it mean?" Angel asked.

"Morning star," Giles answered, as Buffy, Angel, Dawn, and Shayla walked into the cave.

"It's a D," Buffy said, nudging Angel. "And it's pretty."

"I like it," Angel said.

"Me too," Buffy smiled, before letting out a scream. "Shit!" she screamed.

"Okay. Okay. You need to lie down, Buffy," Shayla said calmly.

"Oh lovely," Buffy said sarcastically. "Buffy gets to lie down on the cold, hard, rock filled ground, and push a baby out."

Buffy was actually very scared right now. More than she thought she would be.

Angel took off his jacket, and laid it down on the ground. "Come on," he said.

Buffy took a deep breath, and laid herself down. She felt her head being lifted off the cold ground. Angel was behind her, he put her head in his lap.

Buffy breathed again.

"This is weird," Shayla said, as she took off Buffy's pants "She's ready to come out, like now."

"That's not weird. She was ready to come out a few hours ago. She did me a favour and held off," Buffy said through clenched teeth.

Pain like Buffy rarely felt before rushed through her.

About twenty minutes went by. "I'm gonna ask you to start pushing now," Shayla said gently.

So Buffy did. She yelled in agony. As she did so, she started grabbing at rocks on the ground to channel the pain into. That idea didn't work so well, seeing as Buffy was gripping the rocks so hard that her hand started to bleed.

Angel knew that the blood would go away pretty quickly on its own, because of Buffy's slayer healing, but he ripped a piece of his shirt off, took Buffy's hand, and wrapped it around it, and then took her hand in his own, letting her squeeze away. Damn, her grip was killer.

Dawn watched them and smiled. And then remembered what the Powers had told Angel.

Dawn wasn't gonna let Angel die. She knew what she had to do when the time came.

"Push, Buffy," Dawn said.

"I am," Buffy yelled. "I freakin' am," she yelled in pain, again. "Isn't my being the Slayer supposed to make this hurt less?" she panted.

They didn't answer her.

"Buffy you need to keep pushing," Angel told her.

"NO, what I NEED to do is KICK. YOUR. ASS," Buffy screamed at Angel. "This is your fault. This pain is YOUR FAULT," she shrieked.

"Okay, yeah. It's all my fault, Buffy," Angel said, trying not to grin, as he saw the look on Dawn's face. "And I'm really sorry that you're in pain. But just push, and the pain will be over soon. And then you can kick my ass if you're still pissed off," he said calmly.

Buffy just grumbled.

Dawn knew she shouldn't laugh at her sister's pain, but it was a little funny.

Buffy pushed and pushed for what felt like hours, though it was only minutes, bearing huge amounts of pain, until finally, she heard Dawn giggle and a baby cry.

"She's here," Dawn said, holding the baby. "She's here," she said, kissing her forehead, as Buffy tried to sit herself up, leaning against Angel.

"Okay, maybe I won't kick your ass," she whispered to Angel with wide eyes.

When Buffy was finally in semi-sitting position, Dawn wiped the baby off, wrapped her in a blanket, and passed her to Buffy.

"She's beautiful, guys," Shayla said, as she nudged Dawn out of the cave.

"Hi," Buffy whispered. "Oh my God...Hi baby girl. Look at you... Look at her, Angel," she said, as she planted the softest of kisses on her daughter's forehead. "Hey baby," she said again in wonder.

Angel could hardly speak as Buffy turned and passed the baby to him.

Buffy didn't even bother to wipe her tears of happiness. This baby girl was the picture of perfection.

"Hey beautiful," he finally said as she grabbed onto his finger. Angel kissed her tiny hand.

Buffy smiled as she moved herself ever so slowly. She saw that Dawn had left a wrap in place of pants so Buffy could cover up.

Buffy was sure that if she wasn't the Slayer, she would not have been able to manoeuvre her way into the wrap. She was pretty sure she shouldn't be moving around too much after giving birth, but she managed it with a bit of pain.

"She's ours, Angel. She's ours," Buffy whispered, as she put her head against Angel's shoulders.

"Thank you," Angel said softly, taking Buffy's hand.

"For what?" Buffy asked.

"For her."

Buffy smiled. "Ditto. I could have done without the pain though."

The baby looked at Buffy, and Buffy felt as if she would melt. Angel grinned at her, and passed the baby back to her gently.

"She's gonna look exactly like you," Angel said, "and that's definitely a good thing."

Buffy laughed a bit as she just stared at the baby.

"Are you feeling okay?" Angel asked Buffy. "Well, as okay as you can feel after giving birth?"

"It doesn't even matter, the pain will go away in a bit, I'm more interested in this one," Buffy said, kissing the baby again, this time on her feet.

"I know that I don't say it all the time, but I love you, Buffy. I love you so much," Angel told her.

"It's time, Angel," a voice said. "We did you the kindness of letting you meet your daughter, but it's time to go."

"What's he talking about, Angel?" Buffy asked through clenched teeth, as a round of pain shot through her.

"I've got to go," Angel said, fighting back tears. "I'm sorry."

Buffy knew it. She knew something had been wrong.

"I hate you," Buffy whispered, slapping Angel in the face.

"Buffy, please," Angel begged.

"You promised me you wouldn't leave again," Buffy hissed. "You lied."

"I don't want to go. I want to stay with you, but I can't. They said I have to die. They meddled in things to give us Danica, one supernatural life, now they to take one away... I don't want to leave you. Please believe that," he pleaded, grabbing her hand.

Buffy broke down. "Where the hell are you? You evil son of a bitch?" Buffy hissed. "You can't take him. You can't... I love him," she said, trying to get up.

"I'm sorry, Buffy, but he has to go. There's no negotiating that. Now say your proper goodbyes, we will give you that, and then we take him forever."

Buffy felt Danica being taken out of her arms. "Give me my baby," she hissed.

"I'm only holding her. Say your goodbyes," the voice said.

"How long have you known?" Buffy whispered, trying to control her breathing.

"A couple months," he admitted.

"You lied to me."

"What was the alternative, Buffy? Live in depression for two months, or enjoy our time together?... Take this," Angel said, pulling and envelope out of his pocket.

"Know that this isn't my choice. Know that when I told you I wouldn't leave again, I meant it with everything I had. Don't ever forget that I love you," he said, giving her one last kiss.

Buffy tried to get up again, but that didn't look like it was happening. It was too much. Slayer or not, she just had a baby, she had no energy to stand up.

Angel put his hand gently on her shoulder. "Stay down. You just gave birth, Buffy. Please take care of yourself... And you tell our girl every day that I love her too, okay?" Angel said. "Promise me that, please."

"I promise," she choked, her body racking with sobs. She tried to stay mad, but she wasn't mad at him anymore. She was just broken-hearted.

Angel held Buffy tightly against him. "You still my girl?" he whispered into her ear.

Buffy pulled him to her and kissed him for the last time. "Always," she whispered, with tears streaming down her face. "Always."

Buffy felt the baby back in her arms, and knew that Angel would be gone in seconds.

"No!" she suddenly shrieked, scaring the baby. "You can't take him, it's not fair."

But there was no answer, Angel was gone and so was the voice.

Giles, Dawn, Shayla, and Oz all came running into the cave.

"He's gone," Buffy whispered. "He's gone," Buffy said, still crying. "They took him."

Giles gently took the baby from Buffy.

Dawn couldn't speak. She thought they would have given Buffy more time with Angel before they took him. She thought she would have had the chance to bargain with them for Angel. She was too late, and she felt like this was her fault.

Buffy just put her head in her hands, not saying a word.

After an hour of silence, Buffy pulled out the letter from Angel and began to read.

_If you're reading this, it means that what I've been fearing, has happened. It means that I'm gone. Just know that it wasn't my choice. If I had my way, I'd live and die with_ _you. You're all I want. You're everything good in my life. I've loved you since the first time I saw you... You saved me, Buffy. You pulled me out of the darkness, and brought_ _me into your light. I owe you so much more than you could ever know. _

_I'll be with you always. I'm sorry for all that I've put you through. I'm sitting here writing, rambling_ _really. I just need you to know all these things, and I need someone else to know something, too, just in case I'm gone before she's born. Tell our daughter that I love her_ _more than she could ever understand... Thank you for her, thank you for _you, _and thank you for loving me... I will love you _forever. _Do you understand that? I will love you_ forever. _Nothing can change that, not even death._

_-Angel_

"Give me my baby, please," Buffy said quietly, to Giles. "I just want to hold her."

Giles' heart was breaking for Buffy, as he gently passed her daughter back to her. Buffy cradled Danica to her chest, and didn't look like she was letting go anytime soon.

After another hour or two, Dawn pulled Shayla aside. "When Angel comes back, I want you and Oz to still be there for my sister. She'll still need her friends... And I need you to tell her that I love her, okay?" Dawn said, quietly, willing herself not to cry.

"You can tell her yourself, and what are you talking about? Angel can't come back," Shayla said.

"You saw the same thing I did in that book... It didn't specify whose life had to be taken, all it said, was supernatural life for supernatural life. I know I'm not perfect, but I'm decent enough with the magic so that kind of puts me in that category. They can take me and give Angel back to Buffy," Dawn said, walking out of the cave, not wanting to make a scene.

She had something to do. She did not want an audience as she sacrificed herself.

"Dawn, no," Shayla said, running after her.


	41. Chapter 41

oooooooo This is the last chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the reviews and support. Let me know what you think of this one.

"Bring Angel back," Dawn said. "You have to bring him back. I've read every stupid book there is and all it says is that it's a life for a life. Bring him back to Buffy and you can take my life. I'm offering you a life... Bring him back," she said.

"What do you have to offer young one?" a male voice asked.

"All the books say that you can make a supernatural birth happen, but that you have to take a life. A life of someone with some kind of powers or abilities. I'm not so bad with the magic thing, so that counts as abilities or powers. I'm telling you to take me and give Angel back to my sister, and if you so-called Powers had any sort of heart, you would give him back to her as mortal. You'd let them have a real life together. And even if you don't have hearts, I know about the whole Shanshu Prophecy thing. Angel deserves it... Bring him back and take me," Dawn said.

Buffy had finally gotten up and had Danica in her arms. She saw Shayla and Dawn leave the cave and knew something was up. She had just heard what Dawn said and Buffy nearly threw up.

She couldn't let her sister do that, no matter how bad she wanted Angel. "No Dawnie. No. You're not going anywhere. You're staying with me," Buffy said, barely above a whisper.

"Very well then, we're done here," the voice said, seemingly without a care in the world.

"Since you're here, you might as well know that as of right now, I am no longer your Slayer," Buffy said angrily, in response to the male's flippant answer. "I will protect me and mine, and that's it. My family and my friends are the only who benefit from this Slayer, you mark my words.

"All you big powers do is take. You've taken too much from me, I'm not giving you any more... You've got ten Slayers here in Rome, and you've still got 150 around the world. You'd better get busy, and organize your troops if you want to keep the world safe from the rest of the normal evils, because I'm done with you. You took Angel even though he fought for you, you took him even though all we've ever done was fight for good. I asked you if you were going to take him away from me and you avoided the damn question. You are a liar with no heart...So here it is, you bring Angel back to me or else I'm done with you for the rest of my life... And my daughter, she won't _ever_ fight for you either."

Oz, Dayna, Ong-Lee, Maya, and Sheri had all come out of the cave to see what was going on, and they were all shocked. But they understood. They understood where she was coming from.

The voice finally became something visible, a man. "I am sorry for you, but surely you don't mean what you just said."

For a couple seconds she couldn't believe what she had said, but just hearing this voice made her sure. He didn't care about her feelings. He didn't care about Angel.

"I meant every word," Buffy said steadily, truly meaning it. "I'm done."

"And what about the Shanshu prophecy? If you hadn't decided to take Angel away, that would have been his, should have been, anyway," Giles said, joining in.

"That prophecy has nothing to do with this. And need I remind you, that Angel himself, destroyed that," the male power said.

Another one of the Powers appeared. A woman. "Angel destroyed the Shanshu Prophecy, but he did it for good reasons. In actuality all he destroyed was a piece of paper. The Prophecy still exists."

"He destroyed it, sister," the other power said.

"Don't be like this."

"It is of no matter, Angel is gone."

"I've died for good twice. Does that not count for anything with you?" Buffy yelled. "There's your damn life for a life."

"That was the past," the male said.

"Myself, and our sister do not agree with what you have done, brother. You went behind our backs. You are trying to make a decision without our knowing, without our consent."

"What's done is done," he answered.

"Not if it's Two of the Three Powers against One," his sister answered.

"I was following rules," he insisted.

"Life for a life is not a set in stone rule of the Powers, and you know this," she answered back.

Dawn thought that two made up the Powers, but a third one had just arrived. She looked much younger than the others, and had a sweet face. A smile spread across it.

"Two Powers beat one, brother," the youngest one said. "You have no right to take Angel and no authority...Slayer, Angel will be returned to you, by the power of two" she said, looking at Buffy.

"Do you realize you just nearly made us lose one of our Slayers, our best Slayer?" she said angrily.

He did not answer.

"And Dawn, is it?" the young power said, now looking at Dawn. "At times, we may do things that seem cruel, but in the end, everything is always for the greater good. Our brother may not have a heart, but my sister and I do. We did not know about what he was doing until only moments ago.

"This is not something we have done, this is a stupid decision made by our brother, and nothing that would result could be considered to be for the greater good. Our brother's decision does not stand...My brother, he lost his heart many years ago... We have power that doesn't concern him when we band together... I will show you all my heart in my decision."

Everyone stared at the young woman.

"Angel has fulfilled the Shanshu Prophecy and I am granting him his mortality," she said to the group, but then she turned to her brother. "I recognize what Buffy and Angel have both done for the forces of good. There is no reason to not allow them to be happy.

"Angel and Buffy belong together. Belong _to_ each other. We have seen that since the day Angel changed the way he wore his ring, even before he gave her hers. He belongs to her. And the ring she wears and the marks on her neck say that she is his... Brother, you understand this. You used to have a heart, and you used to love with it. Just because you lost your love, doesn't mean you have to fight to try to make others have the same fate. You are one of the powers, you are supposed to be above this type of behaviour."

"It seems that my brother and sister have been making decisions. I am here to do the same," the second of the three powers said. "Angel has been given his mortality. His immortality is gone, but we will not take his strength. He will continue to fight side by side with you in the good fight. This is _my_ decision.

"While my sister mostly thinks with her heart in her decision, I have also looked at facts. You and Angel have both fought for us for a long time, and you have fought hard. I grant you my part because we _owe_ you. This is our gift to you. This is your reward... And because you won this war, I grant you this day, Miss Summers.

"You were promised that if the war ended in our favour, you would get to be with your friends again. I keep my promises. I bring your friends Willow, Xander, and, Faith, for today... I don't believe my siblings have said it, but I must say thank you for saving this world. Enjoy this day in it. You must give us a few moments to set everything in order and give you your people."

And with that, they were all gone.

Buffy didn't know if she could speak. What the hell just happened? They had just given her everything she wanted. This had better not be a joke.

The male of the Power trio came back, with Angel.

At first, she just stared at him for a minute. He was really there, he was back. Buffy felt her feelings of anger at Angel come back for not telling her that he was going to be taken away, but then he slowly walked to her and Danica, and just reached out. She couldn't be angry, this was just too much of a good thing. Buffy went to him, and wrapped her free arm around him, without a word, just a sigh of relief.

He hugged her back.

Buffy couldn't believe what had just happened. She put her head against his chest, and heard the rarest of sounds. _Thump Thump Thump._

"It's beating, Angel," Buffy whispered. "Your heart is beating," she said in awe.

"They're here, Buffy," Angel smiled. "Go to your friends. Have your day."

Buffy turned and saw Willow, Xander, and even Faith. A huge smile spread across her face, and once again, she began to cry.

Xander and Willow ran to her, hugging her at the same time, being careful not to squish the baby.

"Hey guys," she whispered, holding onto them. "I've missed you _so_ much."

"Hey B," Faith said from a distance

"Can I hold my niece?" Willow asked.

"Of course," Buffy said, gently passing Danica to Willow.

"What's the princess's name?" Xander asked.

"Danica," Buffy said.

"I like it," Faith said, coming closer.

Willow and Xander moved aside with the baby.

"I think us Slayers are allowed to hug, Faith," Buffy grinned.

"It's good to see you, B," Faith said, hugging Buffy awkwardly.

"Good to see you too...That was a little weird, eh?" Buffy said.

"Yeah," Faith laughed. "So that's your girl, then?"

"That's her," Buffy said.

"You mind if I hold her when Will and Xander are done?"

"Not at all," Buffy said. "Will, Xand, it's share the baby time," Buffy laughed.

Willow brought the baby over, and placed her carefully in Faith's arms.

"She's so small," Faith said.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander were all grinning at each other.

"Seriously, B. Is it hard holding her? I mean the being so careful and gentle part? Being the Slayer and all."

"I was scared at first, that I wouldn't be able to be gentle enough with her cuz all I do is fight. But if you hold her for a bit more than a minute, you'll adjust."

"I'm gonna go say hi to Angel, you mind if I take her with me?" Faith asked, clearly fascinated by the baby.

"No, that's fine," Buffy said.

Buffy looked at Xander and Willow, and pulled them to her, for another hug.

"Your baby is beautiful, Buffy," Xander said.

"Thank you," Buffy said, fighting back new tears. "I want you guys to stay, so much... And I want her to know you... Oh God."

Willow took Buffy's hand and looked her in the eye. "They gave us this day, let's treasure it. Don't think about the sad things, what's happening here, with us, now, this is happy stuff, okay?" Willow smiled.

Buffy nodded.

"And when this day is over, you'll be sad. I know you'll miss us all over again, and know that we're gonna miss you too. You know, me and Xand man, we don't have it so easy either, yeah, we get to see you, we get to watch over you, but we don't get to be with you either, not always... But, there's always something good out there, there's always something that will make things better. Make you happy, even when there's sadness all around... When we go, you're gonna be okay."

"And that's what we want," Xander chimed in.

"You'll miss us again, but you won't let that take over you, you'll keep us in your hearts, you won't forget us, and you'll tell Danica about us, but you'll be fine. Because you have so much to be happy about," Willow said. "You've got your baby. You've got Angel. You've got Dawnie, and Giles, and you've got other friends."

"I do, and I really do love them... But no other friends replace you two. You will _always _ be my best friends. The ones who were there at the beginning, the ones who stuck by me to the end... I didn't say it that much before, but I'm saying it now, I love you guys so much. You're more than my friends. You're my family."

Buffy wasn't the only one who had tears running down their face, Willow now looked exactly the same, and Xander smiled, grabbing them both in yet another hug.

After a bunch of chatter, Buffy finally said, "Will, as much as I want to hog you all to myself, I think there's someone else who wants to see you."

"Oz is here?" Willow asked.

"Go see him. He's missed you too. He's down there," Buffy pointed.

Willow smiled. "I'll be back soon."

Giles and Dawn came over to Xander and Buffy, soon after Willow and Oz joined them.

"A little bit of Sunnydale, huh?" Willow grinned.

"Scoobies reunite," Xander laughed.

"So, do we have any evil to fight today?" Willow joked with a grin.

"You guys just missed the evil fighting, actually," Oz smiled.

"Only a couple hours back," Giles said.

"No fair, no fun for us," Xander complained.

"For real, you got to give a Slayer something to slay, you know," Faith chimed in with a smirk.

Angel just watched everyone and smiled.

The day was wonderful. Buffy had laughed like she hadn't in a really long time, but when it was over, she felt the loss all over again. Her friends were gone all over again. But Buffy remembered Willow and Xander's words. They told her not to be sad. At least she had been able to say a proper goodbye this time.

And as Buffy looked around her, even though so much and so many had been lost, she knew she would be okay. She still had happiness. She still had Oz and Shayla. She still had her sister, thank God. For once, she could also say, with perfect certainty, that she had Angel too. And she had the most precious thing in her life, her daughter, who she was cradling in her arms, having just finished feeding her.

"Hey," Angel said, sitting down beside her.

"Hey yourself," she answered.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"I say we do nothing for right now, because I'm kind of exhausted."

"I can't imagine why on Earth you'd be exhausted. It's not like you fought a war or had a baby today." Angel said sarcastically.

Buffy stuck her tongue out at him.

"Good news is that pretty much all of Rome's clueless inhabitants are okay. Oh, and your slayers and the last of the witches said that they'd do a walkthrough of the city to see how bad the damage all over the place is," Dawn said. "Let them take care of stuff for awhile. I think you've earned a break... Giles, Oz and Shayla are gonna come with me, and help me lug the trunks with all the really important stuff we had that I hid in the sewers, back here... We'll see you in a bit," she said, heading off with Giles, Oz and Shayla.

"Dawn, hold on a second," Angel said, following her out.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Buffy told me what you did, what you were going to do. You were crazy to do it. My life is not worth more than yours. Not to mention you would have screwed your sister up big time...But with that being said, I know where your heart was, and I have to say thank you."

Dawn gave him a smile, and nodded her head. "See you in a bit," she said.

Angel went back inside and found Buffy just staring at Danica in complete adoration.

"You've been replaced, Angel," Buffy said. "The title of 'the love of Buffy's life' has officially changed hands," Buffy grinned.

"Way to break a guy's newly beating heart, Buffy," he laughed.

"Aww, don't worry. You're still a close second," she teased.

"Alright then, I guess I'll just have to deal," Angel said.

Buffy spread one of the blankets on the floor and ever so gently put Danica down onto it.

"Come here, you," she said to Angel, patting the spot beside her.

Angel came and sat back down next to her.

"You almost went away for good today," Buffy said, seriously now.

"Yeah," Angel said.

"I kind of started to go a little crazy," Buffy whispered. "I told them I wouldn't Slay for them anymore."

"I'm so sorry," Angel said. "But-"

"Yeah, I know, you didn't have a choice. But that didn't make me any less scared or miserable... Back in high school, when you left I was miserable, and I was broken- hearted, but I wasn't scared. I was scared today, Angel," Buffy sighed. "I know that I can live with-out you, I've done it before, but I don't _want _to be without you.

"And I know, if I had to, I could raise her myself," she said, nodding towards Danica. "But I don't want to do that either. I don't want to do any of this without you. The thought of you not being here, I just can't take it... So there it is. I just needed to say that out loud."

"I don't know what I did to deserve you. And truly, I sometimes still wonder how you manage to love me after everything that we've been through. What I do know is that nobody can interfere anymore. And I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to. I have everything I've ever wanted right here."

"That's nice to hear," Buffy said.

"It's true," he told her. "You're gonna be stuck with me till the day we die."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Buffy smiled. "Not too bad at all."

"So, this is what you want, right? You and me?" Angel said. "And the baby."

"Where the hell have you been for the past five minutes?" she laughed. "Of course that's what I want."

"Good," Angel said.

"Yes good. You know what else would be really good?"

"What?" Angel asked.

"Sleep... Dawn's right, they can handle everything today, I'll be Slayer again tomorrow... I'm so tired and dare I say, sore, right now."

"Then sleep," Angel told her softly.

Buffy picked the baby up with utmost care and passed her gently to Angel. "Take her," Buffy said. "Call me paranoid, but if we're not both awake, I don't want her just lying on the blanket... Would you just hold her while I sleep, so I know she's safe, so I can sleep in peace?"

"Give me the princess," Angel smiled, holding out his arms. "Sleep now," he told Buffy. "Just sleep."

"Mmm hmm," Buffy mumbled, leaning her head against Angel's shoulder.

She fell asleep almost instantly which made Angel laugh. He kissed her forehead and looked from her to his sleeping daughter and thought that all the world's beauty was holed up in that cave with him.

As he sat there, staring between Buffy and Danica, he felt a familiar feeling rise in himself. A feeling of wonder and happiness and almost disbelief.

He was used to feeling all of that with Buffy, and it was always accompanied by regret because he shouldn't get to feel those things because of what he was, of what he had done...Now, regret over past actions was still there, but he was no longer the same, he was human again, like Buffy.

He had something more than darkness and shadows to share with her... But it would always come back to everything she had done for him. He could give her everything and she still would have given him more. Over eight years ago now, she gave him something worth fighting for.

Today, she had brought new life into his world, and from the day he met her, she had made him feel alive, and today for the first time in many lifetimes, he _was_ alive. There was a real life just waiting for him and Buffy, and he couldn't wait to begin it.

He had existed before, but now he would _live_.

Live with her, live for her. Love her for the rest of his life.


End file.
